


Dawn of a New Age

by Fave101



Series: Dare Devil [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers, Storm Hawks
Genre: Fighter Pilots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-01-29 13:29:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 38
Words: 44,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12632013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fave101/pseuds/Fave101
Summary: Canada has been one of earth’s most successful fighter pilots for years.  Now, after a spell gone wrong he is forced to adjust to the world of Atmos.Sequel to ‘Dare Devil’





	1. Dawn of a New Age

Dawn of a New Age

Started on March 29th 2017

Started editing on October 20th 2017

**AN: Yo I'm back again! This is a sequel to my other fanfiction Dare Devil! This is a cross-over with one of my favourite childhood shows, Storm Hawks. You don't really need to watch the show to understand it or read the other fanfic, but I highly recommend it. It's a good show. I watched it again on YouTube, but there is also a drive with all the episodes in really good quality. You can find it on my tumblr(Fave101) in the liked tab. There are only two seasons with like fifty episodes in total.**

England grumbled in disappointment and lowered his arms. He was sure the spell was going to work this time, but it hadn't. He had memorized the spell and made absolutely sure everything was exactly how it should have been.

The blond sighed and walked over to his bookshelf reviewing the spell again. He shook his head, he'd done it perfectly and it still had failed. Arthur shrugged and walked back up the stairs to the main floor shutting the basement door behind him.

-❄"If you keep my secret, then the strawberry is yours."❄-

Matthew sighed and closed the engine hood on his Spitfire. He had just finished his weekly tune up and was getting ready to head home. He wiped his dirty hands off on a cloth and set it down beside him.

The Canadian had just got back from a meeting in Japan and decided to finish up the work he had to do on his plane then go hiking for the afternoon. He was a little bit annoyed that he had to be back by seven. Alfred and his Boss had a meeting with him and his Boss that couldn't be rescheduled.

Canada hopped up from where he was sitting and put his tools away before putting them in the storage compartment of his plane. He walked out of the hanger and pulled the door shut behind him. He got in his truck and started to head home. His house wasn't too far from the air field.

"Hello, Kumba!" Matthew greeted the small polar bear.

"It's Kuma, get it right Mack." The bear grumbled. "I want food."

Canada rolled his eyes and opened the fridge to grab Kuma's food. He threw the fish over to the bear and grabbed his back pack out of the closet. Matthew took off his glasses and sat them on the counter. He went around the house grabbing everything he needed; solar cell phone charger, Swiss Army knife, first aid kit, extra clothes and a water bottle.

"Bye Kimba!" The blond called has he left. He would have taken Kuma with him, but the polar bear was always sleeping this time of year.

"Be back before seven!" Kuma called as the door closed.

Canada started up his truck and pulled out of the drive way. It was mid-day and the sun was high in the sky. It was still cold out and he could see his breath in the air. Winter was just starting to turn to spring.

The nation pulled over on the side of the road and hopped out of his truck. The trail he was going to hike on was an old one, it was long grown over and the path had almost disappeared. He grabbed his backpack from the passenger seat and started into the forest.

The forest floor was covered in damp leaves and fallen branches. There was a huge storm a couple of days ago that had affected most of the western sea board and then moved further in land.

Canada jumped as his phone started to ring. He knew who it was just by the ring tone. He sighed and answered it. "Hello Alfred."

"Yo bro!" Alfred yelled. Matthew held the phone away from his ear expecting his brother to be loud. "Remember we have that meeting tonight!"

"I know, I'll be there." Canada said with a yawn at the end. "You know how to get there? Or is the secret service driving you and your Boss?"

"I always know where I'm going! It's in Kitchener, at the town hall. I got this." America said confidently. "No I am not driving with my boss, I'm on the other side of the country. Anyways, see you then Mattie!"

"Yup, bye." Canada said hanging up his phone. He yawned and looked around. It had been a long day and it wasn't nearly over. The nation spotted a huge fallen branch and walked over to it. He sat down and took out his phone to check the time. He still had an hour or two until he needed to start heading back.

Canada laid back on the log and used his back pack as a pillow. He fell asleep quickly listening to the sounds of the forest around him. The blond was out cold for a good few hours, but when he started to wake up it was really bright and windy. He grumbled and sat up rubbing his eyes.

The Canadian looked around confused. Clouds stretched out in front of him for as far as he could see. An island stuck up between the soft coloured clouds. He looked down at what he was sitting on, he was sitting cross-legged on a weather worn metal surface. He looked over the edge and all he could see were more clouds. He was on an aircraft carrier like thing flying through the sky.

Matthew heard footsteps coming up behind him. He rolled quickly onto his feet and turned to the sound. He froze in place not wanting to make any sudden moves.

"Don't move."

**AN: Soo… this fic is over 30 chapters long. I will be posting every other week like normal, but could post every week in the future, maybe. Have to see what goes on. No one did guess the correct fandom! A lot of avengers guesses tho. There were a few closeish ones too.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

**AN: Yo, I'm going to be updating every 10ish days now! And you should totes buy some of my dragons on Flight Rising** **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)** **I am JokulFrosti7769**

"Aerrow?" Stork asked turning to the sky knight who was sitting at their planning table. The red head looked up at him raising an eyebrow. "You might want to come and look at this."

"What is it Stork?" Aerrow asked getting up and walking over to his friend. The merb pointed out the window to the deck of the Condor. "Oh. I'll go check on that." He said jogging over to the door.

The red head quickly and quietly made his way down to the deck of the Condor. The sun was just starting to set, but the other Storm Hawks had decided to go to bed early. Aerrow quietly crept up behind the person napping on their deck. As he got closer the person sat up and looked around. He pulled his dagger out of the sling on his back, but didn't activate it yet.

The person rolled onto his feet and turned towards him. Aerrow activated his blade. "Don't move." He said pointing the glowing dagger towards the man. "Who are you?" He demanded.

The sky Knight looked the man up and down. The first thing he noticed was his height; the man was a head or two taller than him and was almost Junko's height. The next thing was his eyes, they were a bright violet, nothing like he'd seen on a human before.

"I'm Matthew." He said keeping his hands in Aerrow's view. "I'm not going to hurt you, so would you mind putting that away." Matthew gestured to the glowing sword.

The red head put away his weapon and crossed his arms. The blond didn't look like he was going to make any sudden moves. "How did you get here?" He asked.

"I don't know. Where is here exactly?" Matthew asked looking around.

"You don't know where you are and how you got here?" Aerrow asked slowly. The blond nodded. "What terra are you from?"

"Terra?" Matthew asked confusion plastered on his face.

Now Aerrow was confused. 'How does this guy not know what a terra is?' He thought.

"Do you have a map?" Matthew asked. The sky knight nodded and motioned for the other to follow him.

-❄"Why fight when you can negotiate."❄-

**AN: Switching to Matthew's 3rd person pov.**

Canada nodded and started to follow the teen. His foot hit something and he looked down. It was his backpack, the Canadian bent down and grabbed it. He slung it over his shoulder and continued to follow the kid.

"You never told me your name." Canada said once he had caught up.

"Oh, sorry." The red head said scratching the back of his neck. "My name is Aerrow."

Canada kept following Aerrow as they entered the building. He wasn't sure how to describe the place, but it looked like a mix between a hanger and an auto repair shop. There were four what looked like heavily armoured motorcycles and a dune buggy looking thing.

The Canadian was confused. He had just woken up in an unfamiliar place with people he had never met before. He felt for his land, but it seemed so far away. Matthew didn't bother panicking, he was just going to roll with it and see what would happen.

Aerrow led him into a big open room with floor to ceiling windows all along one wall. The room had a large circular table with a few chairs around it. On the edge of the room were a few bookshelves and crates.

"You brought him up here?" A green person demanded stepping away from them. He had green skin and hair as well as pointy ears and three toes. He clearly wasn't human. "What if he has the swamp creepers? We could catch it, it's highly contagious you know!"

"Matthew, this is Stork our helmsman." Aerrow said with a small laugh. "He's a little bit paranoid about... everything."

"A little bit paranoid?" Stork demanded. "I'm more than 'a little bit' paranoid."

"Anyway, here's a map." The red head said pulling a scroll out of one of the crates on the edge of the room. He laid it out on the table. The nation looked over the map. It was mostly blank space with a few scattered islands.

Matthew put his backpack on the table and pulled out his map. He flipped it over to the world map. "I don't recognize any of this." He said.

"Is this a map of where you're from?" Aerrow asked looking it over. The blond nodded. "I've never seen this terra before."

"What terra?" Matthew turned to see a girl had just walked into the room. She had amber eyes and dark blue hair. She walked over and looked at the maps not fazed by the new comer. "I'm Piper by the way. It's nice to meet you." She extended a hand and Canada shook it.

"I'm Matthew." The blond said.

"I haven't seen this terra before either." Piper said quickly comparing the two maps. "Where did you get this?"

"From a store? It's a normal map." Canada said raising an eyebrow. The door opened again and a small blue rodent thing that looked like a cross between a rabbit and a lemur ran in and climbed up onto Aerrow's shoulder.

"Oh that's Radarr." Aerrow said as it climbed up his back to sit on his shoulder.

"Maybe you have amnesia? Do you remember who you are and where you're from?" Stork suggested from where he was standing.

"I am Matthew Williams from Canada. I remember everything just fine." The Canadian said.

"Canada? I haven't heard of that terra before. Is it one of the lost Atmosian terras?" Piper asked excitedly. Matthew shook his head.

"So you're not from here, you don't recognize anything on the map and judging by your confusion earlier you have no idea what happened and how you got here." Aerrow said repeating the known information.

"Maybe you're a Cyclonian spy sent to kill us." Stork laughed. "I doubt it though, you don't have any weapons."

"Maybe you're from another dimension?" Aerrow suggested off hand.

"Aerrow, that's not possible!" Piper said rolling her eyes with a sight.

"Oh no, it's possible." Stork said. "Ever heard of the dawnrunners? Those suckers can travel between dimensions."

"Dawnrunners? Come on Stork, those are just kid's stories." A blond haired teen walked into the room. He yawned and stretched before walking over to where Aerrow, Piper and Matthew were standing. "Who's this dude?"

"This is Finn." Piper said gesturing to the teen. "Finn this is Matthew."

"Sup dude." Finn greeted with a smile. "You're from another dimension? That's pretty cool."

"We haven't proved that for sure yet, Finn." Piper said pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I honestly think it's a possibility." Canada said. The Storm Hawks turned to him. "I have never heard of this place before and everything is a lot different than what I'm used to."


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

**AN: Posting a day early cuz I have work tomorrow.**

"Where's Junko by the way?" Finn asked looking around.

"I heard my name!" A person stomped into the room. He looked like a bipedal warthog without tusks. He had brown skin and a puff of green hair. "Hello new person! I'm Junko!"

"Hi, I'm Matthew." Canada said with a soft smile.

"So you could be from another dimension? That's pretty scary." Junko said scratching the back of his neck. "How are you going to get home?"

"I don't know." Canada shrugged. He was running through a bunch of possible scenarios in his head, but none of them seemed possible. He wasn't too fazed by everything. After years of being a pilot he had learned to just roll with whatever came his way.

"Looks like you'll be stuck with us for a while then." Finn said. "You're lucky you didn't get picked up by the Cyclonians."

"Cyclonians?" Matthew asked.

"They're an evil monarchy that wants to control all of Atmos." Aerrow said. Canada raised an eyebrow and the Storm Hawks started to explain the war briefly. From what the Canadian understood there were two sides, the sky knights and the Cyclonians. The sky Knights wanted to free the Atmos from the Cyclonians. The war had been going on for centuries. The Storm Hawks had been fighting for the Sky Knights as an unofficial squadron for almost a year.

"How old are you guys?" The nation asked.

"We're fifteen," Piper said gesturing to herself, Aerrow, Finn and Junko. "And Storks twentyish."

Matthew could tell by the looks on their faces that they were waiting for him to say that they were too young. Other people must have told them that more times than they could count. Canada just nodded not wanting to upset or anger the teens. He thought that they were too young, but didn't say anything.

"How old are you?" Junko asked.

"Twenty three." Canada quickly lied.

"We'll have to look into how to get you back." Aerrow said. "Maybe there's a crystal that can help? Piper?"

"I'll see if I can find anything. In the meantime, we should ask around on different terras to see if they know anything." Piper said.

"Good idea Piper. We'll-" Aerrow was cut off by Stork who was listening to what looked like a cup or old timey phone.

"Distress call from Terra Gale." The merb said. Flipping a few switches to turn up the volume so everyone could hear it. "Go ahead Dove."

"Storm Hawks, I need your help. My grandfather isn't making any sense. He's talking complete nonsense." The woman, Matthew assumed was Dove, said. As soon as he heard her voice the nation recognized her accent, it was French Canadian. "There is a huge peace dinner and conference tonight and we need him to attend."

"Right, we'll be right there to see if there is anything we can do to help." Aerrow promised.

"Thank you Aerrow." Dove said and stork stopped the call.

"Stork, set a course for Terra Gale." The Sky Knight ordered and Stork nodded. The huge ship started to turn and speed up. Aerrow turned to Canada. "You can come with us to Terra Gale. We'll see if they know anything that could help."

Canada nodded listening to the red head. The storm Hawks had dispersed around the ship, but Matthew decided to stay on the bridge and watch the clouds go by.

The Canadian felt weird seeing the clouds go being in such a big open space. He heard footsteps coming up behind him, but didn't bother turning to see who it was.

"What does your world look like?" Piper asked standing next to him, crossing her arms and looking out the window.

"Much the same as this actually. Except the land masses are bigger and between them is water not clouds." Matthew explained. "What's below the clouds?"

"It's the wastelands. It's just a bunch of small volcanos and lava flows." Piper said with a sigh. "There are a few people that are crazy enough to live or work down there."

"Probably too warm for me. I love the cold." The blond said.

"I don't prefer either." Piper shrugged. "Both have their perks."

"Aerrow mentions something about crystals? How would a rock help?" Matthew asked raising an eyebrow.

"Crystals power our world." Piper explained with a smile. "Each one has different properties and can do different things. There's a crystal that turns things into cheese, so it's not hard to believe that there is one that is capable of interdimensional transport."

Piper continued to talk about crystals and Canada quietly listened. He would ask questions every so often. He was intrigued by the fact that what were pretty rocks to his world was this world's power source.

"We're here!" Stork announced parking the condor beside the small Terra. "I'll man the ship."

"You coming with us dude?" Finn asked popping into the bridge. Piper looked over also expecting an answer.

"Sure." Canada shrugged and followed the pair of Storm Hawks. Aerrow and Junko were waiting for them and the group exited the ship. The blond looked around and took in the surroundings. The terra was small and covered with nothing but wind swept grass and a few trees. There was also a windmill sitting atop a hill. In the distance Matthew could see another Terra poking out through the clouds.

As they got closer to the windmill a young woman walked out followed by a short old man, both were wearing pots as what seem to be armour. The Old man didn't look to happy, his arms were crossed and he was frowning at the Storm Hawks. The girl, Dove, on the other had looked relieved to see them.

"Thank you for coming." Dove said with a soft smile. She noticed Canada and straightened up. "Hello, I don't believe we've met before. I'm Dove."

"I'm Matthew, it's nice to meet you." Matthew said with a smile.

"So what's going on with Wren?" Finn asked raising an eyebrow and looking down at the man.

"Ne parle pas de moi comme si je ne suis pas ici enfant!(Don't talk about me like I'm not here kid!)" Wren growled shaking a fist at Finn. The Storm Hawks looked at him confused, but Matthew understood exactly what he said and smiled.

"Right, umm, how long has this been happening?" Aerrow asked concerned.

"Since yesterday. I was sitting outside when I heard a crash. I went into the house and found my grandfather on the floor with a bump on his head." Dove explained. "I've tried to ask him what happened, but I don't know what he's saying."

"Pourquoi ne me comprenez-vous pas? Je parle normalement!(Why don't you understand me? I'm speaking normally!)" Wren sighed pinching the bridge of his nose.

"He understands you fine." Canada said.

"How do you know that, Matthew?" Junko asked scratching his head. "So you know what he's saying?"

"Yeah. He's speaking French." The Canadian said. "Bonjour, je m'appelle Matthew. Comment ça va?(Hello, I'm Matthew. How are you?)"

**AN: I am not a French speaker so some of this will be off. I have been watching a French cartoon lately tho ;)**


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

**AN: I am not a native French speaker. All this was done with google translate!**

"Yeah. He's speaking French." The Canadian said. "Bonjour, je m'appelle Matthew. Comment ça va?(Hello, I'm Matthew. How are you?)"

"Je suis Wern. Enfin quelqu'un qui peut me comprendre!(I'm Wren. Finally someone that understands me!)" Wren said excitedly. "Cela s'est produit une fois auparavant. J'ai besoin de fragments de cristaux verts qui sont bouillis dans un thé.(This happened once before. I need fragments of green crystals that are boiled in a tea.)"

"Comment avez-vous compris cela?(How did you figure that out?)" Canada asked raising an eyebrow.

"Longue histoire.(Long story)" Wren said with a smile.

"He says that he needs green crystal shards." Matthew said to the Storm Hawks. "He'll boil them into a tea and it will fix his speech."

"I think I have one on the Condor." Piper said running back to the ship. "Be right back."

Wren and Matthew continue to talk about random things in French. The old man was worried about getting to the dinner in time, but was happy that he would be getting his voice back. Wren said that he was in charge of keeping the treaty stable. Piper came back after a couple minutes and she handed Wren the crystal.

"Vous êtes tous bienvenus à venir.(You're all welcome to come in.)" The old man said walking back towards the windmill.

"He says you can go in." Matthew quickly translated. The Storm Hawks nodded and started to follow the old man.

Dove drifted over towards Canada. "How do you know what my grandfather is saying? Is it magic?"

"Magic? No. Where I come from its another language." Matthew said with a smile.

"Well, thank you either way. I don't know how we would have figured out what he needed without you." Dove said patting his back rather roughly. "Are you new to the Storm Hawks?"

"Yeah, but I'm not one of them." Canada said quickly as they entered the windmill. The Storm Hawks stood around awkwardly watching Wren fish stuff out of his kitchen cabinets and started to boil water on his stove. The old man pulled out a cheese grater and stared to grate the crystal.

Matthew raised an eyebrow at that. He was surprised when Wren lifted it and there were green shards underneath. He wasn't going to question this worlds laws of physics.

The old man cut what looked like cheese cloth and put the crystal shards in the centre before tying it up to make a makeshift tea bag. By now the water was boiling and Wren grabbed the pot off the stove. He poured it into a cup that had a few chips out of the rim and put the tea bag in it. He stirred up the tea before taking a sip.

Wren made a face at the taste. "Can you understand me now?" He asked.

"We can." Aerrow said with a sigh. The old man jumped up and did a little dance before throwing the tea out the window.

"That stuff tastes like a wallops food." Wren said.

"Hey!" Junko yelled crossing his arms. "My food is great."

"Maybe for you buddy." Finn said patting his back. "Maybe for you."

"So how did this happen Wren?" Piper asked. The old man went on to explain that he was trying to reach a pot, but was off balance and fell. On the way down he caught a pan the fell and hit him on the head. "Well at least we know how to fix this if it happens again."

"Yes, thank you very much. I'd like to invite you to the dinner." Dove said hopping off where she was sitting on the kitchen counter. "We'd be happy to have you."

"Thanks for the invite, but we need to go pick up some supplies from Terra Rex." Aerrow said scratching the back of his neck. "Let's go guys, don't want to keep Stork waiting."

-❄"Oxfords not brogues."❄-

"So what was wrong with the old man?" Stork asked as soon as the Storm Hawks entered the bridge. "Was it the Hartwin gas that had taken over his mind? Or was it a caine-creeper bite?"

"Neither, a pan fell on him and he started speaking 'French.'" Junko said.

"French?" Stork asked confused.

"It's a language from Matthew's world." Finn said. "Sounded like a bunch of gibberish to me. Also, did you have to say no to the old man, Aerrow? He was offering food!"

"We really need to get to Terra Rex. We're running out of parts for our skimmers, food and healing crystals." The sky knight said. "The market there is the best place to get stuff."

"But food." Finn whined. Canada rolled his eyes and smiled at the teen. "I'm going to starve bro."

"Call me when we get there." Piper said walking off. "I'm going to research about the crystal."

"Junko, Finn, mind giving Matthew a tour of the ship? Give him one of the spare bedrooms too." Aerrow said. He sat down at the table with a note book and quill.

"Okay!" Junko said excitedly. He grabbed Canada's hand and pulled him along. The blond grabbed his backpack as he was pulled by. He slung it over his shoulder and the wallop let go of his wrist. Finn was following along behind them and he caught up easily with them.

"Why do you have to walk so fast? Stupid short legs!" Finn complained. Junko snickered and walked faster, stopping every few steps to wait for them to catch up. "Stop it dude."

"Fine." Junko said with a playful smile. They lead him around the ship and showed the Canadian were everything was; kitchen, bathroom, engine room, storage rooms and the Storm Hawks rooms. Matthew knew that he was probably going to get lost in the winding halls of the Condor. He was usually really good at knowing where he was, but inside somewhere without windows he easily got lost.

"And you can pick any of these rooms to be yours, dude." Finn said standing in front of the doors and doing jazz hands. "Check them all out before you pick, but I'd choose the one furthest away." He leaned over and whispered, "Junko snores really loud."

"We'll leave you to it!" The wallop said loudly oblivious to what Finn had said. The pair started to walk away. "Stork will call when we get there. Just hang around until then."


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

**AN: My autocorrect is really hating all the funny names!**

Canada opened the door and stepped into a room. He had taken Finns advice and chose the room farthest away. The room was fairly compact. There was a small out cove where the cot was with a desk and chair on one wall across from the door. There was a small port hole on the left and an alcove where the bed was. Everything was painted a dull swampy grey.

Matthew walked over and sat his backpack on the desk and started to unpack. He didn't have much with him, but the Canadian was happy he brought a change of clothes. He folded them up and put them in an empty desk drawer.

Reality started to set in now that Canada was alone. He finally fully realized that he was stuck in another dimension by himself without knowing how or if he'd get back. Matthew took a deep breath and sat down on the bed. He was worried about Kuma, but he knew the bear could take care of himself. The blond knew that he had a meeting later in the night and his brother would, hopefully, realize that he was missing.

"We're here." Stork hummed over the PA system. Matthew blinked back to reality and hopped off the bed. He went over to the desk and grabbed his Swiss Army knife and put it into his jean pocket. He dug through his bag looking for his glasses, but couldn't find them. The Canadian thought back and realized he had left them on his kitchen counter.

The blond shrugged and left his room. He walked down the hall slowly finding his way to the bridge. Once he got there the other Storm Hawks were still waiting for Radarr and Piper.

"We'll split up to get things done faster. I'll take Matthew and Radarr with me to get parts. Finn and Junko you guys can go get food and Piper you can get the crystals." Aerrow said and everybody nodded.

"What are we getting parts for?" Matthew asked. "The ship?"

"No, for our skimmers." The sky knight said, Radarr chirping after him. "Those are the things in the hanger you saw on the way in."

"The armoured motorcycle things?" The blond asked. Aerrow looked a little bit confused, but nodded.

"We'll be taking those into town with us. You'll ride with me and Radarr." Aerrow said. Matthew nodded. He was excited to see the skimmers in action. He loved motorcycles and those things looked pretty cool.

The Storm Hawks split up and went in different directions. Piper had already headed off to get the crystals and Finn and Junko were still looking around for bags to carry the food. Matthew, Aerrow and Radarr were the only ones in the hanger.

The more Canada looked at the skimmer the more interested he became. The pieces he thought were armour looked more like a folded wing than anything. It would have made sense that these things could fly because of the environment they were in.

"Can these things fly?" The Canadian asked raising an eyebrow. Radarr jumped off of Aerrow's shoulder and started to bark and growl something.

"Yeah they can." The sky knight said. "Radarr asks if you've ever seen them before."

"No, we have two things that would combine to make a skimmer." Matthew said. "But no one has done it yet."

"Someone should really get on that." Aerrow said climbing onto the bike and scooting forward to make room for Canada. He climbed on and Radarr jumped onto one of the engines that had a tinny seat on it. The sky knight started the skimmer and revved the engine before speeding off down the ramp and off the Condor.

-❄"Pardon me, are you Arron Burr, sir?"❄-

Aerrow weaved around the people as they sped through the town. Canada looked around. There were a lot of small shops and stands around. It reminded him of a traditional English town especially with the architecture. He also spotted a few people that looked like guards standing around watching.

"Those guys are the Rex Guardians." Aerrow said noticing the guards as well. "This is their home Terra, the don't like us very much." Radarr started to chirp about something. "He says that their just jealous."

"Where's your home terra?" Canada asked.

"We don't have one." The sky knight said as he stopped the bike in front of a garage. Radarr and Matthew climbed off as Aerrow shut it down. The Sky Knight led the way into the garage.

A man popped up from behind a pile of scrap metal. "Hello there, what can I do for you?" He said looking at Canada.

"We're looking for spare parts." Aerrow said clearing his throat.

"Anything in particular?" The man asked. Matthew looked him up and down. He was wearing a dark t-shirt and grease stained overalls. He had a black flat cap on his balding head.

"Not really, what do you have?" The sky knight said. The man motioned for them to follow him. He led them into a back room that was full of spare parts.

"Tell ya what kid, I'll give you any parts you want in this room if you take that skimmer off my hands." The owner said poking a finger in the direction they had come from. The sky knight didn't look to happy about being called a kid, but still listened to the man. "Five hundred and it's yours."

"Two fifty." Aerrow said. The two continued to barter and Canada quietly listened. He had no input on the matter because he didn't know what the value of things was.

Radarr wondered off into the mounds of parts and started to dig through them. The blond decided to follow him and watch what he was doing. The lemur looking thing grabbed a part that was almost his size and lifted it up to show Canada. He crouched down and Radarr handed him the part.

"It's a transmission." Matthew said turning it over in his hands. It was a lot smaller than one he had seen before, but he still recognized it. Radarr chirped and gave him a thumbs up before walking over to another pile. "Do you want me to keep this?" He called after Radarr. The lemur thing chirped and growled nodding his head. Matthew followed Radarr around carrying the parts that he had chosen.

"Alright, deal." Aerrow shook the owners hand with a smile. The pair walked back towards where Radarr and Canada were. "You know how to ride a bike right?" The sky knight asked and Matthew nodded. "We'll take them now then."

"Great! Take whatever you like out of this room. Thanks for clearing up some space." The owner said as Aerrow handed him money. The man counted it and shook Aerrow's hand again. He walked out of the room and headed to the back of his shop.

"Picked the good stuff?" The sky knight asked started to rummage through one of the piles.


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Radarr had gathered up as many parts as he could and handed them to Aerrrow and Canada to carry. The pair would take them back and pack them expertly away in the two skimmers storage compartments. The Canadian was surprised how much the skimmers could hold. They had cleared out quite a few shelves for the man.

"We got enough Radarr, let's go." The sky knight said letting the lemur thing climb onto his shoulder. Radarr chirped and growled before hopping off and running over to Aerrow's skimmer. "You sure you'll be okay?"

"I'll be fine." Canada said as the pair walked over to where the two skimmers were parked. The blond got onto the skimmer and started it. "This'll be fun." He said with a smile.

Aerrow shrugged and climbed onto his skimmer starting it as well. The pair started off taking it slow at first. The balance on the skimmer was different from any other bike Canada had ridden. It took him a little bit to get used to it and the controls; they were a mix of a motorcycle's and an airplanes.

Matthew was having a lot of fun just driving the skimmer. It was a lot more powerful than any other motorcycle on earth. He knew he could go fast if he really opened it up, but that wouldn't be the most responsible thing in a town.

Alfred always said that he was a bad driver, but Canada was just a quick one. He didn't really like to follow speed limits because everything felt so slow compared to an airplane. He normally would ride a motorcycle in the summer to get places quicker. After years of flying fighter jets, the Canadian had faster reaction times and would weave around traffic which scared his brother. People moved too slowly for him.

"You seem comfortable." Aerrow said as they rode up the ramp to the Condor.

"This things pretty cool. When will we get to fly them?" Canada asked excitedly as they pulled into the hanger bay.

"We could go out tomorrow for a patrol." The sky knight suggested. "We'll be parking somewhere for some engine maintenance."

-❄"Praise the sun."❄-

"So this guy sold the skimmer and parts to you for three hundred?" Piper asked raising an eyebrow upon seeing the new skimmer in the bay. "Why?"

"He said he wanted more space." Aerrow said. "It was a good deal, the parts alone could have been well over three hundred and adding a skimmer on top of them could have been closer to a thousand. And we don't know how long Matthew will be around so well leave it with him for now."

Later in the evening the other Storm Hawks got back. Stork decided that he would make supper that night. The murk carried all of the groceries by himself to the kitchen. Matthew was very impressed by the balancing act.

"Hey Mattie?" Junko said poking his shoulder. "Is it okay to call you Mattie?"

"Yeah, Mattie or Matt is fine." Canada shrugged giving Junko is attention.

"You're skimmer is pretty barebones. Want to help me pick out some blasters and equipment for it? It'll be a good idea to have them if a battle happens." The wallop said with a smile. Matthew laughed and nodded. Junko led him into one of the Condors storage rooms. The wallop flicked the lights on. "Here's all the stuff."

"Where did you get all this stuff? Where do you make your money?" The nation asked as they stared into the room. There were rows of shelves with boxes of weapons and parts on them. "Why did you need more parts if you had these?"

"The skimmer parts we have in here are out dated. We sell them as scrap or trade most of them." Junko said leading the Canadian to the back of the room. "How's your aim? Do you like close or far combat?"

"My aim's okay, I like farther combat." Matthew said picking up what looked like a crossbow. He looked at it for a minute before setting it down.

"Farther?" The wallop raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not a sniper; I do need to get kinda close, but not super close." Matthew said trying to explain as best he could.

"I looked over your skimmer and with these blasters," Junko said picking up a pair of guns. He continued on excitedly. "We might be able to put them inside the wings. They could still be used even on the ground!"

"That would be pretty cool. How long will it take?" Matthew asked. He was liking Junko's idea. It would be almost like a spitfire, guns build into the wings.

"Not very long, a couple of hours probably. These are built for this. Just cut a small hole and slip them in. There are a few screws of course." Junko explained. "We have this set and this one," The wallop pauses to pick up another set of guns from a high shelf. "These are more powerful. They've got a lot more kick to them."

"We're going to put both sets on?" The blond asked. The pair continued to talk about weight distribution and the effect on speed. When he had first talked to Junko he expected him to be the big dumb strong man, but the wallop was actually a very kind person. He was also very knowledgeable about weapons and mechanics.

"Hey, what'ch doing?" Finn asked popping out of nowhere. Junko explained as they walked towards the hanger. "Have you ever flown before?" He asked Canada.

Matthew nodded. "Yeah I have, a lot actually; it's a bit of an obsession. I haven't flown anything like a skimmer before though."

"That's definitely a good thing; otherwise learning from one of us probably wouldn't end to well." Finn said with a shy smile and rubbing the back of his neck. "We tried to teach Stork how to ride a skimmer, but he didn't like it too much. He ended up making his own four wheel flying buggy."

-❄"(wheeze)"❄-

The trio started the work on Matthew's skimmer, but were interrupted by Stork calling them for supper. After they ate, and Canada helped with the dishes. They got right back to work after they had finished. Aerrow had tagged along to watch and help. After about another two hours Canada, Junko, Finn and Aerrow had finished the modifications and were just cleaning up.

"We'll test them tomorrow when we go out for patrol." Aerrow said standing up from where he was perched on top of a box. The Sky Knight walked to wards the outdoor deck of the Condor and looked up at the sky. "It's getting late, I'm going to bed."

"It's not that late." Finn said with a teasing tone. "Morning people."

"I don't know Finn," Junko yawned. "I'm tired too. What about you, Mattie?"

"I am definitely not a morning person, more of a night owl, but I am kind of tired." The Canadian said. Finn groaned and whined about having to stay up alone, but soon left for bed as well.

**AN: Merry Christmas and happy holidays!**


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

**AN: There will be flying this time!**

The next morning Matthew sat up and stretched. He sighed and looked around not immediately recognizing his surroundings. He crawled out from under the covers and looked out the small window. The nation could see nothing, but clouds.

Canada ran his hands through his hair to straighten it out a little bit. He walked out the door and slowly found his way to the kitchen. It looked like a few of the Storm Hawks had already been up and had breakfast leaving their dishes everywhere. Matthew was annoyed by the mess and started to gather up the dishes. He would clean them later if someone didn't get to them first.

The nation rummaged around looking for something that resembled a good breakfast. They had a lot of junk food, but not much else. He eventually found something that looked like an apple. He found a knife and cut it. The inside looked exactly like an apple, but it was bright blue. Matthew just shrugged and took a bite, not like it would kill him anyways.

Canada finished his meal and left the kitchen to head to the bridge. He stopped at one of the crossroads to look around because he wasn't sure where he was. He spotted some faded writing in the wall, but couldn't read it. The writing didn't use English lettering.

The Canadian heard footsteps coming from his left and looked over. Piper was walking towards him with a few books in her arms. "Good morning Matthew." She greeted. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to read this." Canada said looking over the letters again.

"You can't read?" Piper asked surprised.

"I can, but not this." He mumbled a little offended. "It's not the lettering I'm used to."

"We speak the same language, but our written one is different. That's interesting." The young woman said thoughtfully. "What were you trying to find."

"I was going to the bridge." The Canadian said. Piper shifted the books into one arm and pointed at one of the words. She told him what each one went and the more he looked at the words the more familiar they looked. "I will need to learn this fully sometime. Did you find anything about a crystal?"

"I did actually, but nothing helpful." Piper said. The pair started to walk to the bridge together. When they got there Piper set the books on the table and opened one. As she read, she kept her place with her finger. "It gives a basic description of the crystal, but no location or origin. At least we have a name to work with. It is called a Dimensional Discord crystal."

"That's the drawing of it?" The nation asked pointing at the illustration next to where Piper had been reading. The amber eyed girl nodded. "It looks like a piece of rainbow amethyst."

"A crystal where you come from?" Piper asked and Matthew nodded. "Just a useless rock?"

"Yeah, a pretty expensive useless rock." Canada said with a shrug. He was happy to know what to look for now. It felt good to have some leads.

"Hey, you're up!" Aerrow said walking into the bridge. Raddar perched on his shoulder. "We're down for engine repairs. So now would be a good time to go out and test your skimmer."

"Have fun." Piper said sitting down to read. She looked very comfortable and content. Matthew moved to follow Aerrow down to the hanger. The nation mentioned what Piper had said about the Dimensional Discord crystal.

"We'll find it." Aerrow said reassuringly. Radarr chirped as well. "The Atmos has it secrets, but we'll uncover them."

"I'm not too worried." The nation said with a smile. "I'm sure we will."

The pair walked into the hanger and climbed onto their bikes. Aerrow quickly gave Matthew a crash course in the skimmers controls and they were off. Canada sped up following the Sky Knight down the run way before driving right off. He loved the feeling of weightlessness as they fell through the air. The Canadian shifted and pulled the lever to activate the wings.

Matthew hadn't been in an open cockpit plane in quite a while, but a skimmer was nothing like it. For one, the skimmer had no protection other than the small windshield and it controlled differently. He tested how the controls reacted and was satisfied. They were fairly touchy and very responsive.

Canada looked around. The Condor was a couple of miles behind them now and parked next to a forested terra. There were a few similar islands poking through the clouds. Way off in the distance he could see another air ship in the sky.

"Where we going?" The Canadian asked. For how fast they were going, there wasn't much wind. He was also surprised that it wasn't colder up in the sky.

"Just around. Making sure there are no Cyclonians around while the Condor is out of commission." Aerrow called over.

Matthew dipped his wing tips and rocked lazily side to side. He did a barrel role holding tightly as he turned upside down. He paused when he was upside down and let go of his handle bars holding on with only his legs. The Canadian stretched down and ran his hands through the clouds.

"Look mom no hands!" Matthew muttered to himself with a smile. He pulled himself back up and turned his skimmer right side up.

"Looks like you were skimmer-ing the clouds." Aerrow said with a sly smile that almost matched the Cheshire cats. Radarr groaned and face palmed.

"Eyyy." Canada laughed. They flew quietly for a few minutes.

"So you do this where you come from?" The Sky Knight asked standing up on his skimmer and hopping over onto Matthew's wing tip. He walked up and crouched down next to Canada still on the wings. Matthew watched him with his mouth open and white knuckled.

"Are you crazy?!" The nation yelled worriedly watching the teen walk along the wings with ease. Aerrow smirked and did a handstand. "Sit your ass down, you're going to fall."

"No I'm not." The sky knight laughed and stood up straight. Matthew was scared to even move in case the skimmer shifted. "I do this all-"

**AN: Happy New Year! Here are my fav things from this past year!**

 

**Song: Wasteland- Woodkid or Supremacy- Muse**

**Artist: 2CHELLOs or Muse**

**Movie: The Red Baron**

**Move quote: "Manners maketh man."- Harry Hart, Kingsman**

**Quote: "Never trust anyone too much; remember the devil was once an angel." –Ken Kaneki, Tokyo Ghoul**

**Game: The Last Guardian**

**Book: Nightshade~ Andrea Creamer**

**Fan fiction: Journey to the End of the World~ Nicky_Gabriel(Starsky and Hutch, AO3), Crab Sandwiches~ Dawnwind(Starsky and Hutch, AO3)**

**Manga: Blood Bank or Killing Stalking**

**Anime: One Punch Man or Hetalia**

**Youtuber: Jacksepticeye or Simplynailogical or Safiya Nygarrd or ThreadBanger**


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

**AN: Been thinking of maybe setting up an ask-blog for my versions of Canada. This would include, Dare Devil(Dawn of a New Age and Shining Waves), Forgotten Knight, Don't Fear the Reaper and other upcoming ones too! I don't know if there would be enough interest to bother tho.**

"I do this all-" The Sky Knight tripped and fell hanging onto the edge of the wing. He flipped in between the two and landed back up right on the wing. Aerrow smiled and stuck his tongue out at Matthew's terrified face.

"You're going to give me a heart attack." Canada said, breathing heavy, watching the red head walk back across his wings and hop back onto his own skimmer. "That's another level of stupid. An 'open all the cages in the zoo' kind of stupid."

"It's normal." Aerrow joked and Radarr chirped and growled. "We fight hand to hand like that too."

"What?" Canada said with a blank face. Just thinking about it made his stomach turn. He wasn't afraid of heights, the opposite actually, but he was scared that the Sky Knight would fall. "Never mind, I don't want to know."

"Hey, let's go through there." The red head pointed to one of the terras. "It has a bunch of caves that lead through the bottom of it. It would be fun to go through."

"Okay." The nation said excitedly. Both of the pilots turned their skimmers towards the terra and dropped their altitude until the belly of their skimmers was in the clouds. Matthew could see the mouth of a cave come into view through the haze. It was just slightly smaller than the skimmers wingspan.

As they got closer Aerrow gained a little bit of height before closing his wings and dropping. Matthew copied his actions and retracted his wings. He loved the feeling of weightlessness before hitting the ground. He wobbled slightly, but kept his balance. The cave was one big cavern with rocks sticking up out of the floor. Their headlights lit up the damp cave.

The Canadian sped up to catch Aerrow. He ducked and twisted through the caves moving around the rocks and stalagmites. The pair had broken off from each other, taking different routes through the caves, but keeping in sight. Matthew sped up wanting to see how fast the skimmer could go. He weaved around keeping his speed up the whole time. Up a head he could see that the cave broke off into a few small tunnels.

"Take whatever one you want. They all meet up at the end." Aerrow called over to Matthew. He nodded as the red head entered one of the tunnels. Canada pulled his bike to the left and ducked into one of the tunnels.

The noise from the engine was deafening as he rode through the small cavern. Matthew kept low on his skimmer to avoid the few hanging stalactites. As he rode along the tunnel opened up enough for him to sit up. He slowed down a little bit to look at the cave walls. They looked like they had once been smooth, but were now rough with age. The rock wall was made up of layers of dark, almost black, rock with a few light and shining blue layers laced through.

The Canadian sped up seeing a lip in the floor. As he got closer he could see that there was a gap in the cave floor and it opened up into another large cavern. Matthew drove over the lip and looked down; there was nothing under him, but darkness. He quickly pulled the leaver to open his wings and looked around for another tunnel. He spotted one to his right and flew towards it.

Canada gained a little bit of height before closing his wings and landing in the tunnel. He was still getting used to the landings and wobbled a little bit, knee hitting the cave wall. He bit his lip at the pain knowing that it would have a terrible bruise later. He continued to ride through the tunnel and at the end he could see a light.

Matthew sped towards the light before bursting out back into the sky. He looked around and spotted Aerrow and Radarr just coming out of a tunnel.

"That was fun." Aerrow said with a smile. Radarr chirped jumping up and down in agreement. "There are a few terras around here that have tunnels running through the bottom. None of the other ones have tunnels wide enough to fit a skimmer though."

"That's a pretty tight squeeze as it is." Matthew said scratching the back of his head. Aerrow nodded in agreement.

 _"Everyone okay out there?"_ Piper's voice came over the radio reminding both of them to the fact that they had been out for a while.

"We're fine Piper." Aerrow replied.

 _"Good, just checking up on you. Engine maintenance should be done in an hour or two."_ She said com crackling. Then she said jokingly, " _Be back by then or we'll leave without you."_

"We'll head back now then." Aerrow said with a laugh. The pair turned back in the direction of the Condor. Matthew still wanted to stay out longer and test the skimmer further, but didn't complain.

As they got closer to the Condor, Canada got to see how big the ship really was. It was massive compared to anything else he had seen flying. It easily rivalled an aircraft carriers size. Matthew wondered how five young adults and a lemur thing ran the huge ship.

"That things huge." The blond said as they flew past one of the rudders to the front of the ship.

"That's what she said." Aerrow laughed. Matthew groaned and quietly face palmed. Radarr growled out something seemed like a 'why' also face palming.

They came around the front of the Condor and pulled a tight turn to line up for the runway. Aerrow touched down first before Canada retracted his wings and landed as well. It was a lot smoother than the other two before, he only wobbled slightly. Both of them rode right into the hanger and parked.

"Hey Matthew, have you ever fought with a sword or a knife?" Aerrow asked out of the blue as he hopped off his skimmer.

"Along time ago when I was younger?" The Canadian asked confused.

"Good." The Sky Knight said and he motioned for the blond to follow him. He followed Aerrow to another storage room. He was starting to wonder how many rooms were just filled with junk. "We have quite a few weapons around, but these are the better ones." He said flicking the lights on and pointing at a board that was hanging on the wall. "They are all powered by crystals. Pick the one that you'd be most comfortable with. Never know when something could happen and you'll need them."

**AN: All the Hamilton refs… Sorry, not sorry tbh!**


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

**AN: This fic is going to be so long! It's chapter nine and I'm not even a quarter of the way through the plan. ALSO** **I've started an ask blog! As me or any of my Canadas a question and I will answer. I am tallpoppy-canada on Tumblr, or click the link on my profile! I will also be posting random Canada stuff not just asks.**

"Pick the one that you'd be most comfortable with. Never know when something could happen and you'll need them." Aerrow said and Canada gravitated towards the throwing knifes. He picked one off the wall and turned it over in his hands. It looked like a regular throwing knife, but the blade was a light purple stone. "You might also want something for close combat as well." The red head said picking up a short sword from the wall and handing it to Matthew. The Sky Knight gave him a crash course on how to use the crystal power.

"I haven't used these in such a long time." Matthew said remembering back to when he was a colony and Scotland had taught him how to throw knifes and Wales teaching him how to wield a sword.

"You up for some combat practice then?" The red head asked crossing his arms. "And target practice?"

"Sure." Canada said tucking the throwing knifes in his back pocket and carrying the dagger in his hand. The pair went back to the hanger to practice since there was a lot more space to move around. Aerrow stood in front of him and drew his short swords.

Matthew wasn't really sure what to expect from the Sky Knight. He was already at a disadvantage only having one dagger and almost no practice for the past 150 years. He would use the throwing knives in a real fight, but just for practice, he didn't want to hurt Aerrow.

"Ready?" The red head asked raising an eyebrow. Canada nodded and took up a defensive stance. By this time Finn and Piper had walked into the hanger to watch. They had settled on top of some crates.

Both of them activated their weapons and Aerrow started to move towards him. The nation readied for the attack by raising his dagger to block Aerrow's. Their blades clashed and Canada pushed the Sky Knight back knocking him off balance. The Canadian used his height to his advantage to push back.

Aerrow attacked again this time dropping down into a crouch and trying to kick Matthew's legs out from underneath him. Canada didn't see it coming and fell onto his back. The Sky Knight lunged at him, but Matthew rolled away and back onto his feet. Aerrow jumped at him again slashing with both swords. He was able to block one, but ducked under the other. The sky knight continued to attack and Canada kept defending.

In hand to hand, Matthew normally didn't attack until he had worn his enemy down. Aerrow being young didn't wear down quick. The nation didn't have as much stamina as he used to and was tiring quickly.

The fight went on for a few minutes before Aerrow stepped and put his foot behind the Canadians leg and hooked it. He pulled and knocked him before pinning him to the ground.

"When was the last time you did this?" Aerrow asked slightly out of breath.

"Years ago." Canada groaned and ran a hand through his hair. Aerrow stood up and offered a hand to the Canadian. Matthew took it and the Sky Knight pulled him up.

"You're pretty good dude." Finn said hopping off the crate where he had been resting. "Not many people last that long against a Sky Knight."

"You defend a lot more than you attack." Aerrow commented. Radarr had scuttled into the hanger and climbed up onto the red heads shoulder.

Matthew nodded. "I learned it mostly as self-defence. I'll only attack if I really need to." He said.

The Canadian didn't like to hurt people in hand to hand; it was to close and personal for him. In a dog fight there was a disconnect between the combatants, not knowing their face made things easier. Of course Canada always felt bad when he learned someone got hurt, but the feeling didn't last for long because he knew it was part of being a fighter pilot.

"Target practice?" Aerrow suggested raising an eyebrow. The blond nodded and pulled the knives out of his back pocket. Finn dragged a worn out block of wood with a bullseye into the centre of the hanger. "That thing is ancient, but it still works."

"We really should repaint it though." Finn commented. As Canada readied his knives. He felt the weight and turned it over in his hand to hold the blade before throwing it at the target. The knife lit up mid throw and stuck on the edge of the board making a burn mark around the blade. "Well at least you hit it." The blond teen commented.

Matthew rolled his eyes and smiled before throwing a second knife. This one hit closer to the centre, but not quite. The Canadian wasn't satisfied with that and threw another knife at the board. The knife flew through the air and lit up before hitting the board right in the centre leaving another burn mark.

It had been quite a while since he had used throwing knives. Back in the day when he was a colony it was his weapon of choice, but once guns became more common he didn't use them as often. He now used them mostly to impress people in bars.

"Bet you can't do that twice." Finn teased, but before the words had fully left his mouth, the Canadian had already thrown the knife. The knife had hit in almost the exact same spot as the other one.

"You were saying?" Canada said putting a hand on his hip and smirking. He went over to the target and retrieved the knives. The blond was surprised that there was no heat coming from the blade anymore.

"Well you just got showed Finn." Piper laughed at the teen's stunned face. Finn crossed his arms and sighed. He suddenly got an idea and walked over to his skimmer.

"Okay then Mattie, can you split a crossbow bolt?" Finn asked picking up his weapon from his skimmers seat. He loaded it and fired at the target. The bolt stuck right into the very centre of the block.

"Probably not." Canada bit his lip knowing that this could take a while. He had split an arrow before, but it took him quite some time. He threw his first knife and it nicked the shaft of the arrow and stuck into the board.

"That was pretty close." Piper commented. Matthew threw another knife, but this one didn't touch the bolt. He sighed and threw a few more knives none of which hit the arrow. He knew that he would get worse at throwing before he'd get better. The nation decided to switch his throwing hand.

"Isn't that your bad hand?" Junko asked scratching the top of his head.

Matthew shook his head. "I don't really have a 'bad' hand." He said throwing a knife and hitting the board just as close as his other hand. He was starting to get a little bit frustrated, but kept throwing.

**AN: I really had to watch my Aerrow and arrow here. Not much happening here, next chapter has a bit more action.**


	10. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

"Dude, you've been at that for almost an hour." Finn said lying on the hanger floor staring at the ceiling. "Give it up bro."

Matthew through his last knife and groaned when it nicked the arrow again. He just missed so many times that the arrows end was sharpened into a point. He walked up to the target and retrieved his knives.

"I'm going to leave this." Canada said biting his lip. He knew it would be even more impossible with the sharpened arrow end. "For now."

-❄"Phrasing."❄-

The next day, Canada woke up rather late judging by where the sun was in the sky. He rolled out of bed and changed his clothes. He had completely forgotten that his phone was in his jeans pocket and took it out. The nation didn't bother checking or looking at it before putting it back into his new jeans pocket.

Matthew left his room and found his way to the kitchen. Piper was there making breakfast. "Good morning." She said with a yawn.

"What are you making?" Canada asked raising an eyebrow at the weird looking concoction she was stirring.

"They're peppermint and holoberry cupcakes." She said starting to pour the batter into cupcake tins.

"For breakfast?" The nation said with a sigh. He hadn't seen these teens eat anything healthy yet. Piper smiled and nodded. "Why?"

"Why not?" Piper replied. Matthew nodded accepting the answer and started to dig through the kitchen to find something generally healthy. He found another one of the weird blue apples he ate yesterday and took a bite. This ones insides were bright neon green.

"What are these?" Canada asked gesturing to the apple thing.

"That is a galapple. They all have different coloured insides, but they taste the same." The amber eyed girl said. "Be careful of the purple ones, they'll dye your mouth."

"I learned that one the hard way." Aerrow said walking into the kitchen and going over to the fridge. He grabbed a container of something and took a spoon out of a drawer before sitting on the counter. "So, you wanna learn how to fight on the skimmers?" He asked pointing the spoon at Canada.

"Walking on the wings?" The nation asked and Aerrow nodded. "I'll pass for now, thanks."

"Aww come on, it's fun." The Sky Knight said with a mouthful of food. Matthew smiled, but still shook his head. Aerrow shrugged and kept eating. "There's nothing to do today. It should be quiet."

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth sirens started to blare and Stork came over the PA system. "There a squadron of Cyclonians coming our way. You guys might want to get out there!"

"Let's go!" Aerrow said jumping off the counter and going towards the door. Piper quickly took her cupcakes out of the oven and followed the red head. Matthew ran after them, mentally preparing for a fight.

Once they got to the hanger the trio hopped onto their skimmers and helliskooters. Finn and Junko ran in a second later.

"Junko, help Stork in the helm." Aerrow said starting his bike. The wallop nodded and started back towards the bridge. Matthew started his skimmer and revved the engine. The Sky Knight started down the runway and the other followed after. Canada drove off the runway and opened his wings. He looked around for the Cyclonians and spotted them to the left and down a couple hundred feet.

As soon as the Cyclonians spotted the Storm Hawks they started to fire energy blasts at them. Matthew could easily tell which one was in charge; he was yelling commands at his squad mates. Besides the leader there were eight others.

Aerrow turned too looked back at them. "I'll take care of Dark Ace. You guys get the others." He yelled over his shoulder.

Canada noticed that the leader, Dark Ace, had broken away from the others and Aerrow followed after him. He watched as the other Cyclonians broke apart and the other Storm Hawks did as well. The blond spotted two of the Cyclonians coming his way.

Matthew was still a couple hundred meters above them and dived down. He shot at them as he dropped altitude. One of the blasts it the enemy skimmers engines and it sputtered, but was still flying. The nation was still getting used to the aim of the blasters. The pair of Cyclonians started to fly straight up at him and fired. He kept a low profile on his skimmer and fired back at the Cyclonians. He was aiming for the skimmer he already hit.

The Canadian quickly estimated the distance between the two and rolled his skimmer to the left holding on tight as he passed between the two. He pulled a tight turn and made it behind the pair. Matthew fired again this time directly hitting the already handicapped skimmers upper right wing. If went flying off over his head and he ducked. The Cyclonian's skimmer started to spiral out of control and he hopped off pulling a parachute. Canada tailed the other Cyclonian and fired at him. The talon tried to lose him, but was unsuccessful and soon he too was falling into the wastelands.

The nation looked around at the brightly coloured sky. There seemed to be more talons than there were before. He spotted one flying his way and went to meet him head on, but before he got there Junko had already hit them from the Condor. Canada pulled out of the way of the debris and spotted a new target. He flew after a trio of Cyclonians that were just hanging around Finn.

Matthew turned and pulled up to get to the talons. He was coming up behind them when he felt a weight on his wing. He looked over to see a man crouching on his wing tip. The man had dark hair with an undertone of green and red eyes. Judging by the man's uniform being fancier than the others, Canada assumed that this was the Dark Ace Aerrow had mentioned.

"So you're the new Storm Hawk I've heard rumours about." Dark Ace said straightening with a smirk. Matthew frowned and thought _'nope'_ before pulling a barrel roll. The Dark Ace tried to hold on, but flew off. Canada dipped his wing and look down to see the Talon falling through the air. Seconds later a skimmer was there and caught him. Dark Ace looked up at the unfamiliar person, but was distracted by the fact that Aerrow was shooting at him.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

**AN: Follow my tumblr (tallpoppy-canada) for updates on when I'll be posting or aph Canada stuffs!**

Canada picked up speed and started to gain on the trio of Cyclonians that were tailing Finn. He fired at the one bringing up the rear and hit the man's back. He could see the huge burn on the talons back as he veered to the left smashing into his comrade. Both of their skimmers started to fall out of the sky.

Matthew focused on the last one not bothering to watch the other two. The last Cyclonian broke away from following Finn and nosed dived into the clouds. The nation followed the talon into the clouds and broke through the bottom into the wastelands. He looked around trying to spot her, but didn't see the enemy skimmer.

Suddenly someone was behind him and shooting. Matthew hissed as one of the blasts grazed his wrist and hand. He held on tight through the pain and pulled back up into the clouds. He lowered his speed and kept in the clouds hoping the woman would speed past him.

Canada pulled up a little bit, just far enough so he could see above the clouds. He spotted the Cyclonian just ahead of him and started to fire. The woman rolled and climbed trying to avoid the blond's blasts. She rolled to the left and Matthew was expecting it. He fired directly at her wings and one went flying off, but the talon kept in the air.

The nation furrowed his eyebrows and aimed again. He shot at the same side as her wing had flown off of and hit directly on the other one. The Cyclonian jumped off her skimmer and opened her parachute.

Matthew looked around again. Aerrow and Dark Ace were busy fighting on the wings of their skimmers, the Sky Knight had Ace pinned. Piper and Finn were chasing the last couple of Cyclonians off. Aerrow had just returned to his skimmer and let the Talon and his soldiers go.

The red head waved a hand and directed everybody back to the Condor. Junko was still firing from the Condor at the Cyclonians. Canada looked over to see the other Storm Hawks, Aerrow and Radarr's skimmer was fine, but Pipers had a few burn marks and Finns looked like one of the wings were about to fall off. Matthew looked over his own; he had one burn mark on his left wing and the burn on his hand. He finally got a chance to look at it and it wasn't pretty.

The burn was on the back of his hand and went up a little ways on his wrist. Luckily it hadn't burned his clothing. Judging by the deep red colour and how it ate at the area, the nation could tell it was a third degree burn. It would hinder the movement of his left hand for a while.

Matthew landed easily on the Condor runway. The storm Hawks pulled into the hanger and assessed the damage. The few burn marks on Matthew and Pipers skimmers they could just buff out, but Finn's wing would need to be replaced.

Junko came into the hanger with a big smile on his face. "We sure showed those talons whose boss!" He yelled.

"It's almost like you've done this before." Finn said elbowing the Canadian lightly in the side.

"I have, kinda." Matthew said.

"Right, bikes and plain doughnuts." Finn said and Canada raised an eyebrow with a smile.

"What happened to your hand?" Piper said noticing the burn. "That looks nasty."

"It's okay, it will heal." Matthew said looking down at his hand. It already looked a little better.

"We can treat that. We have crystals that can heal anything on the spot. Single use though." The woman said grabbing something out of the storage department of her skimmer.

"Nah, its fine. It will heal in a day or two. Don't waist those on me." The blond said brushing some hair out of his face.

"If you say so." Piper looked skeptical, but set the crystal down.

"Are there any repairs the Condor needs?" Aerrow asked Radarr on his shoulder.

"The Condor is in tip top shape." The wallop said clapping his hands together. "But, Finn's skimmer could use some work."

"I agree with that." Finn said. "I think we need to tighten a few bolts and it'll be fine."

"I don't know about that Finn." Junko said skeptically. Raddar chirped in agreement with the wallop. Finn just sighed and pinched his nose.

"Hey, Mattie, want to learn how to read?" Piper asked.

"You can't read?" Aerrow asked surprised.

Canada sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "No I can read, but not your written language."

"Oh, I get ya." The sky knight said. "If you're going to be here a while it might be a good idea to learn."

"And I'll be able to help Piper to find more information on that crystal too." The Canadian said with a smile.

"Well have fun with that." Aerrow said and turned back to where Finn and Junko were debating the damage on the teen's skimmer. Piper motioned for him to follow and he jogged to catch up.

"So when was the last time you learned a written language?" Piper asked as they walked.

"Along time ago." Matthew said scratching the back of his neck. "It's been a while."

"I've never taught one so this will be interesting." Piper said. "Have any suggestions?"

"I don't know, maybe comparing alphabets to see if there are any similarities?" Canada suggested.

"That's probably a good way to start." The young woman said pushing the door to her room open and waved for the nation to come in. She sifted through her desk's drawers to find a couple of blank sheets of paper and a pair of quills and ink.

The pair sat down at the small round table in the corner of Piper's room end started to compare alphabets and sounds. He had to keep the books pretty far away from himself to read the words. He was mentally punching himself for leaving his glasses at home. They found out quickly that their letters all had the same sounds, but were represented by different symbols. Canada wrote out simple words to get used to the new alphabet and made an answer key. Piper and him spent the rest of the day reading and writing. It took Matthew a while to get used to the new symbols.

**AN: Been watching the Olympic figure skating last couple of days! Canada won gold in the team event!**


	12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

**AN: Little bit of a slow chapter.**

Over the next couple of weeks Canada started to settle into life in the Atmos. The burn on his hand had healed within two days much to the Storm Hawks fascination. Piper and him had managed to go through almost all of the books she had on hand and found a few snippets of new information on the crystal, but nothing about a possible location.

It was fairly late in the morning and he was in the hanger bay. There wasn't anyone else there accept him and Aerrow. The nation was currently buffing a burn out of his skimmers wing. He had been there for almost an hour buffing out the burn and checking over the engine. The tools were pretty much the same as what he was used to, but they were powered by crystals.

"Hey, Mattie. Change your mind yet?" Aerrow asked with an innocent smile walking over and sitting cross-legged in front of him.

The blond bit his lip. He was itching to get out again. "Fine. I'll try it."

The sky knight smiled and jumped to his feet. Canada thought that he looked like a little kid and smiled. The red head had been bugging him for weeks to try the wing walking, but Matthew hadn't agreed until now. He put away the tools and went back over to where Aerrow was leaning against his skimmer. Raddar had hopped on to his side seat and was ready to go.

"Ready?" The Sky Knight asked mounting his skimmer. Matthew nodded and climbed onto his own. "Going out! Be back eventually." Aerrow said through the coms.

The pair started up their skimmers and sped down the runway. Canada was still getting used to falling before being in the air, it seemed counterproductive. He watched as Aerrow easily stood up and walked across his wings. Radarr hopped up and took the controls of his skimmer.

"Your skimmer has an autopilot built in. Radarr is mine, but he's portable. Yours will turn on as soon as all your weight leaves the seat." The sky knight said jokingly crouching at the end of his wing. He motioned for the Canadian to get up.

Matthew bit his lip and stood up. He climbed onto the wing and just stood there. He didn't really want to move and fall. The Canadian knew that it wouldn't kill him, but landing on sharp rocks or falling into lava wouldn't be fun. He stood with his legs spread shoulder width apart and hands out for balance.

The wind wasn't as bad as the nation had expected. It blew his hair all over the place and at times it covered his eyes. Canada walked shakily towards where Aerrow was perched on the end of his wing.

"Having fun?" The sky knight asked standing up.

"Not really." Matthew said. "I'm more terrified at falling than anything."

Aerrow smiled and stood up. "I don't blame you, but you get used to it."

"I doubt that. I've flown for years, but I'm still afraid of crashing." Canada said taking a few steps back to let Aerrow onto his wing. The Sky Knight easily hopped over and put an arm around Matthew's shoulders. He had to stand on his tippy toes to reach.

"How about some sparring?" Aerrow asked raising an eyebrow.

"Nope. You got me this far, not moving past this." The Canadian said brushing Aerrow off. He just laughed and jumped back over to his own skimmer making Canada's wobble a little bit. Matthew braced himself and bit his lip.

"I'll get you one day!" He declared with a laugh. "Hop over here!" The sky knight suggested.

The blond wasn't too keen on moving at that moment, but did so anyways. He took a few steps to the edge of his wing tip. He looked over and down at the clouds. Canada didn't fear the heights or falling, but the landings worried him. He took a deep breath and jumped the small gap between their skimmers.

"See easy. I don't know why the others are so freaked out about it." Aerrow said running a hand through his hair.

"And you think I'm not freaked out?" Canada asked raising an eye brow.

"You don't look like it." The red head said. "You're as cool as a cucumber."

"You have cucumbers here?" Matthew asked Aerrow nodded. "Our worlds seem to share some things."

"You still don't seem worried to get back. Yet again cool as a cucumber." Aerrow said. He stepped to the edge of the wing and sat down letting his feet hang over. He lied back with his arms behind his head. Canada sat down beside him and let his feet hang over. "What was your world like?" He asked.

"It was a lot more boring, in a good way." The blond said. "My world is at peace, for the most part, but that could change quickly. There is a lot more land and in between the land is water not sky."

"What?" Aerrow asked surprised. Radarr chirped in confusion from the controls. "That's so weird!"

"This is weird to me. I'm used to having to fly a couple thousand feet up to get to clouds, not drop down!" Matthew said with a smile. "I'm not too concerned about getting back. People don't really notice me all that much. I would like to go back because it is home." He said with a sigh. He didn't mind being in the Atmos, it was a nice change, but he hated being away from his land.

"Well we're glad to have you anyways." The red head said sitting back up. "We'll keep looking for that crystal though. So when you want to go home, you can."

"There isn't too much information about its whereabouts in Pipers books." The Canadian sighed.

"I know, but we can go to Terra Atmosia. They have a huge library that would definitely help us." Aerrow said standing back up. He offered Canada a hand and he took it. The red head easily pulled him to his feet. "They're no Cyclonian patrols out here today, surprisingly. We should head back before Stork gets antsy."

Matthew smiled and nodded. He hopped back over to his own skimmer and sat back at the controls. He sighed in relief as soon as he was back in control and seated securely with a little less chance of falling.

-❄"The guys from LMFAO are uncle and nephew. It must have been awkward to film 'I'm sexy and I know it.'"❄-

The rest of the day was lazy. There wasn't any repair or maintenance that needed to get done so everyone was lazing around. Aerrow had gotten restless quickly and asked Canada to spar. Matthew didn't mind because he was also a person who always liked to be doing something.

The pair was just about to start when Canada nearly jumped out of his skin. He felt a vibration in his pocket and 'American Idiot' started to play. The sky knight looked at him confused as he pulled his phone from his pant pocket.

**AN: Just finishing up the last few chapters of my next fic! It's a Tokyo Ghoul/Hetalia crossover. Not sure what I'm going to write once I'm done it. Maybe a Hetalia/Avengers cross, but I don't know where to go with that… Have any suggestions?**


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

**AN: This fic will now be updated every Saturday!**

"Wow, he actually noticed." Matthew grumbled seeing the contact. Aerrow looked at him confused and put his swords away. He was mostly surprised that his phone wasn't dead; it wasn't even at half battery yet. "Hello?" He asked answering.

"Matthew Williams where the hell are you?!" Alfred yelled in his ear. Canada sighed. "You said that you wouldn't be late!"

"Wait, what?" The Canadian asked confused. It had been at least a couple of week since he'd been in the Atmos.

"I'm getting my ear bitten off by your boss and mine because you didn't show." Alfred said. He seemed like he had calmed down a little now. "Where are you?"

"Um, well that's a little hard to explain." The Canadian said turning to look out the hanger door.

"How hard can it be?" America said sarcastically. Matthew could hear the eye roll in his tone. "Are you at an airport?"

"No."

"Forest or a hiking trail?"

"No."

"The soup store?"

"What?"

"Never mind." Alfred laughed. "Are you at a strip club or something? Or Prussia's house."

"What time is it where you are right now?" Matthew asked ignoring the question.

"It is eight o'clock. You were supposed to be here an hour ago!" Alfred said with a sigh. "You're normally not this late let alone completely forgetting about a meeting."

"I got a little bit busy." Matthew said pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah, sure." Alfred said. "Where are you?" He asked sternly.

The Canadian bit his lip. He was trying to figure out a good way to word where he was. "I'm in another dimension."

"What?" The American said dumbfounded. "Photos now."

"You paying my data bill?"

"Sure, whatever. Photos!" Alfred demanded. Matthew took the phone away from his ear and moved to go over to the hanger door.

"Who are you talking to?" Aerrow asked following him.

"My brother." Canada said taking a photo of a passing Terra.

"Your brother is a glowing box?" The red head asked confused.

"No, I'll explain in a minute." Canada said turning to take a photo or Radarr. The lemur like thing ran over and struck a pose. "Thanks Radarr." The Canadian said. He also took a few pictures of the hanger before sending them. He put the phone back to his ear. "Just sent them."

"Okay, one minute." America said. Matthew heard a bit of rustling then his brother was back. "How? And what is that blue lemur thing? How long have you been there?"

Canada was surprised that his brother believed him so quickly. "I don't really know. I fell asleep in the woods and woke up here. It's been a little less than half a month. The blue lemur is Radarr." He explained.

"Almost a month?! It's the same day here!" America murmured. "Time must move differently there. Have you figured out a way back?"

"Sorta. We've learned about a crystal that might be able to help, but we can't find any info on where it might be." Canada answered.

"Okay. You and who?" Alfred asked. The nation could hear the protectiveness in his voice.

"It's fine. They're friends." Matthew said with a smile.

"Be safe Mattie." America said with a warning tone. "I'm going to call England or Uncle Scotland. See it they know anything, I'll call or text you if we find something."

"What about the time difference?" The nation asked.

"How long have you been there?" Alfred asked. Matthew could hear some papers rustling and knew that his brother would be writing things down.

"About a half month, maybe a little less." Canada said.

"It's been about twelve hours here. So let's say it been twelve to fifteen days for you." Alfred muttered thoughtfully. "So one hour here is about one day there."

"Right." The blond said. "Twenty-four days for me is only one for you." Matthew was still trying to wrap his head around it

"Yeah." Alfred sighed. "I better get on this then. Now I have to explain this to our bosses."

"Have fun with that." Canada said with a small laugh.

"Oh I'm sure I will!" The American said. "Talk to you as soon as I can."

"Bye." Matthew said hanging up and putting his phone back into his pocket.

"What just happened?" Aerrow asked as Radarr climbed onto his shoulder. "Why were you talking to a glowing box?"

"The glowing box is called a phone. They're pretty common in my dimension. It's essentially a communicator, but with extra features." Matthew explained. "My brother called me because I was supposed to be at a meeting for my job an hour ago, their time."

"Their time?" The Sky Knight asked raising an eye brow.

"It seems that the time flow between our dimensions is different. It is the same day there, but a few hours have passed. It's been days here." Matthew said with a sigh sitting down cross-legged on the floor. The red head sat down next to him. "A year here will only be 365 hours or about half a month there. That's crazy."

The nation was suddenly worried that he wouldn't be able to get back. He was scared that he would out live the storm Hawks and still be stuck. Days back home would be months here. Matthew already missed his land and it had only been a few hours at home.

"Well at least you won't be missing much back home." Aerrow said his patting back. "And you have a way to contact your brother too. What's his name?"

"His name is Alfred." Canada said trying to keep his mind off it.

"Is he older or younger than you?" The red head asked lying on his back.

"Younger by a few days." Matthew said. "He tends to forget that. What about you? Any siblings?"

"No. Most of us don't have any family left. I didn't even know my parents." Aerrow sighed. "We are each other's family."

"My family is alive and well, but they forget about me most of the time. Even Alfred does." Canada said. He knew that it didn't even compare to not having known their parents. "Most people do."

"How could someone just forget that a person exists?" The Sky Knight asked.

"When you're one if billions it's very easy." Matthew said with a sigh.

"There are billions of people in your dimension?" Aerrow asked sitting up, a surprised look on his face. Matthew nodded. "That's a lot of people. I think we might have tenish million? Probably not even."

"You seem to have a lot less land and resources as well." Matthew said and Aerrow nodded.

"The Cyclonians control most of our resources. We either have to buy them second hand for a lot of money or steal them. We generally steal them." Aerrow said. "Speaking of that, we're getting a little low on loop fruits. Remind me to ask Piper to find a convoy that has them."

"Loop fruits?" Matthew asked picturing apples that were missing a core in his head.

"Yeah, it's a cereal. You have cereal where you come from right?" The red head asked raising an eyebrow.

Canada nodded. "Are they circles missing their inside, coloured and covered in sugar?"

"How did you know?" Aerrow demanded.

"We have a cereal called 'Froot Loops' in my dimension." The Canadian explained with a smile.

"Out of all the things our dimensions have in common, it's a cereal and cucumbers." Aerrow said pinching the bridge of his nose.

**AN: Just posted the first chapter of my new fic 'Blackout.' It is a Hetalia/Tokyo Ghoul crossover!**

'Canada is believed to have one of the lowest ghoul populations in the world, but that couldn't be further from the truth. The ghouls across the country know the truth and the nation behind it.'

**Also really needing ideas on what to write next! Got an idea for a fic? Let me know! Mostly looking for Aph Canada stuff.**


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

**AN: Just don't question where Canada keeps his knives.**

Matthew ducked under Aerrow's blade and elbowed him in the chest. They had decided to go back to sparring after their little talk. The other storm Hawks had come down one by one and now everyone was there, even Stork.

Aerrow slashed at him again, but Canada hopped back. He was still just defending and waiting for the Sky Knight to tire out. He could see it on Aerrow's face that he was determined to get the Canadian to attack him. He was doing silly things, trying to hit below the belt and anger Matthew. It wasn't really working too well though, he was too level headed.

The red head was about to attack again, but a message came over the PA system. "Hello Storm Hawks! This is Starling, I am on Terra Vapos. We need help; there are squadrons of Cyclonians attacking!"

The storm Hawks ran up to the bridge and Stork took the wheel and Aerrow picked up the com. "Starling, this is Aerrow. We are on our way."

"Good, please hurry. We're pinned down here." Starling's voice cracked and cut out.

"Full speed Stork." The Sky Knight said worry laced through his voice.

"Their Domo will save them!" Finn declared.

"Domo?" Matthew asked confused.

"Long story, I'll tell you later." Junko said patting Finn roughly on his back.

"I can tell it Junko!" The teen complained. "I can tell it better than anyone else!"

"No, you'll exaggerate it better than anyone else." Piper said with a smirk. Finn sputtered as Junko laughed.

"Five minutes away." Stork said over his shoulder. Aerrow walked up and stood beside the merk. He crossed his arms and watched out the window for the terra.

A few more minutes passed and the Terra came out of the clouds. Matthew could see a cluster of skimmers chasing one skimmer. He knew that the lone skimmer must have been Starling. He could also see people throwing spears at the skimmers from the ground that were dressed in Ancient Greek styled clothing.

"There's no opposing ship around. It's just the squadrons." Stork said looking at the radar. "What's your plan?" He asked Aerrow.

"I don't see Dark Ace there right now. Looks like Snipe and Ravess are there though." The sky knight said taking in the situation. "Everyone in the air unless a cruiser shows up, then Finn and Piper man the guns."

"Good thinking dude." Finn said. "Now let's get down there and save my people!" He said running off towards the hanger. Aerrow smiled and ran after the blond, Radarr holding onto his shoulder for dear life. Canada, Piper and Junko followed after them down to the hanger.

Finn and Aerrow jumped onto their skimmers and sped off down the runway before the other three had made it to the hanger. The Canadian climbed onto his skimmer and started it waiting for the others before also speeding off.

As soon as they were in the air the Cyclonians heard them coming and broke away from Starling. There were more talons than the last battle. They swarmed around them. Matthew picked a Cyclonian and started to fire at him.

The talon dipped and dived avoiding all of the blond's blasts. Canada followed close behind and quickly downed the skimmer. He looked over his shoulder hearing engine noise and spotted two Cyclonians on his tail. They started to shoot at him and he rolled away from the blasts.

Matthew angled his wing tips down and pulled tightly to the right. He blew by the two that had been chasing him and pulled in behind them. He was still amazed at the turn radius of the skimmer. The nation started to fire at the pair.

One broke away and the blond followed. It dived down towards the terra and went low to the ground. The people dressed in togas started to throw spears at them as soon as they got within their range. Matthew pulled up and away as one banged off his wing. He looked over to see if there was any damage, but there wasn't. He looked back down to where the Cyclonian was still flying low, but his engine was smoking and he was losing altitude.

The Canadian watched as the talon crash landed and the toga people ran over. He pulled away and flew back towards the battle again. He saw a pink haired lady with a bow shooting at Finn who was shooting back with his crossbow. Junko was fighting against a purple haired man who kept swinging at him with a club.

Matthew spotted a group of three skimmers heading his way. He turned to fly straight for them pulling a throwing knife from his pocket. As soon as they got close enough Canada threw the knife at the middle man's shoulder joint. He saw the man's face contort in pain as he flipped upside down, reached down and grabbed the knife from the talons shoulder as he passed over them. He turned right side up and looked back. The man was slumped over holding his wound and dipping down into the clouds.

The other two Cyclonians turned back to him and started firing. Canada had the sun to his back making it hard for his enemy to see. He fired back at them hitting ones engine before shifting his focus to the other.

The female talon didn't back down seeing both of her colleagues being defeated. She flew straight at him and fired. Matthew rolled to the left and dived down. He looked over his shoulders as he moved and she followed him down. The woman had hit his skimmers belly twice and caused a little bit of damage, but not enough to affect his controls. He stayed in the clouds and could hear the Cyclonian behind him.

Matthew pulled back and slowed his skimmer down and heard the enemy skimmer pass underneath him. He smiled pulling back up above the cloud line and waited for the Cyclonian to surface. She popped up a second later looking around for the blond. The nation started to fire at her and she started to roll and turn to avoid the blasts.

To the Cyclonian's credit, she did a very good job of avoiding the shots, but Matthew was determined to get her. The blond anticipated that she would move to the left and the woman did. He hit the side of her skimmer where the wing brackets met the body and the left pair flew off. Canada rolled out if the way as they flew past him. The Cyclonians skimmer started to fall and she bailed off.

Matthew looked around again, the last few talons were retreating and the people on the ground were cheering. He flew back over to where Aerrow and Finn were. Starling and Piper were not too far off and Junko just pulled up before them.

"Let's land and say hello to my people!" Finn yelled jetting off in that direction. Aerrow and the others followed him to land. The blond teen landed and hopped off his skimmer before running over to the crowd of people. Matthew landed and got off his skimmer, but leaned against it.

Starling walked over to the Canadian and stuck out her hand. Matthew shook it with a smile. "I'm Starling; it's nice to meet you."

"Matthew." He said.

"You're new, we haven't met before. I've heard a little bit about you." The purple haired woman said. "It's good to see an 'older' face with these kids." Starling smiled. He could tell that she was fairly protective of the Storm Hawks, but didn't know why.

"They are pretty young." The nation said. "But don't let them hear you say that." He laughed. Starling cracked a smile.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Canada and Starling walked over to where the other Storm Hawks were. They were chatting with a man who looked like he was in charge judging by the gold leafy crown he wore.

"Thank you again Storm Hawks." King Agar said bowing slightly.

"It's our job." Aerrow said cutting off whatever Finn was going to say. Piper laughed and Junko put a hand on a pouting Finns shoulder.

"Oh sir, I have a question for you." Piper said.

"Of course, ask me anything." The king said.

"Do you know anything about a crystal called 'dimensional discord?'" The amber eyed girl asked.

"Yes." King Agar nodded. "My people kept it safe for thousands of years. Unfortunately it was stolen a couple hundred years ago and we were in unable to recover it."

"Do you know who stole it?" Matthew asked raising an eyebrow.

"Not exactly, there are many different stories. Some say that WebleWings swooped in and took it, other say that there was an attack by the dragons or the people from Blizzaris. Everyone has a different story." The king explained. "Last we heard of it was a few months ago when the Cyclonians came looking for it. They were disappointed."

"Why were the Cyclonians looking for it?" Aerrow asked.

"I don't know. Master Cyclonis came herself to demand it." The king said shaking his head. "I believe that Gundstaff has it in his store room."

"Gundstaff?" Canada asked. He hadn't heard that name before.

"He's a crazy crystal collector." Finn said running a hand through his hair.

"He's not crazy, just particular. He likes things his way." Starling said shrugging.

"Maybe we should go and pay him a visit." Aerrow said. He quickly said goodbye to the king and they headed back over to where they had parked their skimmers. "Where are you off to Starling? Why were you here in the first place?"

"I was just flying by when I saw the squads of talons clustered around here." Starling explained. She started her skimmer. "They were attacking the people so I stepped in. I'm going to head out. Good luck with Gundstaff." She said revving up and flying off.

-❄"Team Castlecoke!"❄-

Once the Storm Hawks were back in the Condor they set a course to Gundstaff's house. It would take them about a week to get there because they wanted to avoid going through the heart of Cyclonia.

"We're running low on healing crystals." Piper said carrying an almost empty sac of crystals.

"That's a problem." Stork said. "None of us know first aid."

"I do." Canada said from where he was sitting at the round table reading. "It's been awhile. I still remember most of it."

"We still have bandages and all that stuff, but all the medicine is long outdated." Piper paused at the door leaving the bridge. "It's getting harder to find these crystals. The Cyclonians keep them under lock, key, in a safe under a trap door. Not literally, but they're just as hard to get."

"Would Gundstaff have any?" The nation asked. Marking the page in the book and shutting it.

"It's worth asking. We're on good terms with him now." Piper said walking off to her room. Matthew stood up and stretched walking over to look out the window. The other Storm Hawks were busy fixing their skimmers and cleaning up. Canada had finished his since it didn't have much damage in the first place.

"See anything out there?" Stork asked making small talk from where he was piloting the Condor.

"Not really. Clouds mostly, few pieces of terras." The Canadian said.

"You never know what could be out there." The merk said. "The Atmos is home to thousands of deadly species."

"At home, I keep one of the world's most deadly animals as a companion." Matthew said looking over with a smile.

"Oh? I used to keep a collection of poisonous spiders, snakes and lizards, but they got lose often." Stork said. "I, sadly, had to release them all because apparently they were to 'dangerous.'" He put air quotes around dangerous. "What is this companion you have?"

"A polar bear." The nation said. Stork just raised an eyebrow. "A big fluffy animal that looks super cuddly, but could easily kill you. It doesn't have any toxins or anything like that. Just claws and teeth."

"Sounds simple, yet deadly." The merk said and Canada nodded. "There is a wind storm a head of us. We'll have to take a detour." Stork said as Matthew walked over a stood beside him. He pointed at a small cluster of dark clouds on the horizon. "It's going to be a bumpy night."

-❄"It's like algebra... Why you gotta put numbers and letters together? Why can't you just go fuck yourself."❄-

Matthew tossed and turned. He couldn't fall asleep hearing the wind outside the Condor. He groaned and threw an arm over his face. The Canadian sat up and swung his legs over the edge of his bed and stood up. He walked over to his desk to check his cell phone, but there were no notifications.

The blond sighed and shoved it into his hoodie pocket before leaving his room. He could hear Junko snoring a few rooms down. Matthew set off to find a small high place. It was a habit he had formed in the wars, can't sleep in bed? Find a nice spot in the rafters. He checked a few of the storage rooms, but found nothing.

Canada started off towards the hanger. Once he got there he looked up to the ceiling, it was a maze of pipes and vents. He spotted a promising looking place and climbed up. The pipe was square and wide enough to fit two people. The pipe was also warm making the nation think it was a heating duct. Matthew smiled enjoying the warmth and small space. He quickly drifted off to sleep.

-❄"Hey, panini head, are you listening to me?"❄-

The nation ended up staying there all night and in the morning climbed down. He had scared Junko with his sudden appearance and quickly apologized. The wallop was still fixing a few dents in his skimmer and Matthew offered to help. They spent the rest of the morning polishing Junko's skimmer and making sure it ran perfectly.

Once the pair had finished they headed to the kitchen to see what they could scrounge up. He had been warned not to eat Junko's food so he cooked them both brunch. It looked like the others were already up to eat.

The next couple of days were uneventful. They avoided all of the Cyclonian territories on their way to Gundstaff's. Canada mostly hung around reading and tinkering with his skimmer. There wasn't much to do to kill time.

Aerrow was constantly asking to spar and was full of energy. Matthew didn't mind and would practice with the red head. Aerrow didn't have as much stamina as the blond did. He had bursts of energy before petering out. The nation was surprised that he had the stamina to keep up with the teen at his most energized time as well as past when he had tired out.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

**AN: My spell check is confused by Aerrow and arrow...**

They finally arrived at Gundstaff's Terra and Matthew was surprised at the size of the house and mainly the front door. It was a house fit for a giant, literally.

"Do you think he'll hear us knock?" Finn asked looking up at the huge door.

"Well, we can't exactly ring the doorbell." Aerrow said gesturing up the huge button.

"What about this guys?" Junko asked pointed to a smaller button that was on their level. It was still much bigger than an average door bell, but it could be ring able. Junko hit his knuckles together to activate his knuckle busters. He punched the button leaving a bit of a dent and a loud bell chimed. He stepped back and patiently waited.

The door opened a crack and Matthew looked in. He didn't see anything, but a huge dark column that looked like it was made out of fabric. The nation followed it upwards until he saw a face.

"Hello Gundstaff!" Piper yelled up waving to him.

The giant man knelt down closer to their level. "Storm Hawks? What are you doing here?" He asked. He had grey hair and green eyes.

"We're looking for a crystal." Aerrow said.

"Well come on in then. I'll see what I can do for you." Gundstaff said straightening up and opening the door further. Canada followed the others in and the giant man shut the door behind him. He led them into his workshop and helped them up onto his work table. "What are you looking for?" He asked sitting down on his stool.

"We're looking for the dimensional discord crystal." Piper said.

Gundstaff shook his head. "You are the third person to ask for it."

"Who were the others? Cyclonians!" Finn demanded.

The giant shook his head again. "A man with a funny multicolour poncho asked for it. He payed really well. The Cyclonians came for it a while ago and now you're here."

"So, you don't have it?" Piper asked.

"No. I didn't get the man's name or where he was from. He had dark hair and eyes; he also wore a multicoloured poncho that looked like it was made out of feathers." Gundstaff said apologetically. "Is there anything else you're looking for?"

"Yes." Piper said. "We're also looking for some healing crystals. Would you happen to have some?"

"I do. They're starting to become hard to come by." Gundstaff said opening a drawer in his desk. "Keep them in here instead of the vault. Just in case." He grabbed them and handed them to Piper.

"Thank you Gundstaff." She said with a smile. It wasn't much, but it would do for a while.

"Anytime." The giant said. "Good luck finding that man."

-❄"Hey, turn around, bend over, I'll show you where my shoe fits!"❄-

The next few days were uneventful. They had started to ask around for this man, but no one had heard of them before. Matthew was a little bit restless and missing home. It was the longest he'd been away from his land outside the wars. For him it had been a close to a month in the Atmos, but for Alfred, it would have been a little over a day total.

"Hey Mattie! Wanna try to spilt that arrow again?" Finn asked crossbow in hand.

"Sure." Matthew said standing up from where he was in the deck. He followed Finn back into the hanger and helped him drag the target out. Finn shot a bolt into the centre of the target as Canada readied his knives.

"Have at it." The blond teen said leaning against his skimmer. Matthew pressed one of the knives lightly against his bottom lip as he took a breath. He threw the knife and it stuck in the board right beside the arrow. "So close."

The nation readied again and threw a knife. This one landed on the opposite side of the arrow. Matthew bit his lip and threw another one. It stuck into the board right above the arrow.

"You're very accurate with those knives. Why don't you use them more often in battle?" Finn asked.

The Canadian shrugged. "I prefer flying and shooting at people. Throwing knives don't really fit into a dog fight."

"Oh and jumping off a skimmer to fight on top of another does?" The sharpshooter laughed. "Anything goes!"

Matthew just laughed and threw the next knife. That one was a little further away than the others. He walked up the board and pulled them out before walking back to his spot. The nation kept throwing for almost a half an hour and the other Storm Hawks started to gather again. Finn had to replace the arrow once because of how many times it had been nicked. The Canadian kept throwing though; he was determined to get it this time.

Canada bit his lip and threw another knife. This time, it didn't land in the board, but split the arrow down the centre and bounced off the metal arrow tip before hitting the ground.

Matthew gasped and smiled. "Yes, finally!" He said excitedly.

Finn jumped up and ran over to the board and inspected the arrow. "It's almost a perfect split." He said pulling the arrow out carefully and handing it over to Canada. Aerrow hopped off the crate he had been resting on and walked over. Matthew handed the arrow to the Sky Knight.

"That's amazing." Aerrow said handing the arrow back to Canada.

"What are we going to do with it?" Junko asked.

"Could frame it and hang it on the wall." Piper suggested.

"Or we could wrap it up like a present and send it to Master Cyclonis along with some plain cooked pasta." Finn suggested.

"Why though?" Piper asked confused.

"Why not?" The teen said with a smirk. Piper just faced palmed and slowly shook her head while everyone else laughed.

**AN: Sorry for the later post, was visiting family then ended up in Fornite… whoops**


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

That night, Canada couldn't sleep again. He crawled out of bed and stretched before leaving his room. He was going to go back to his spot on top of the heating pipe, but decided to find a nice window to camp in for the night. He found it easy to navigate the ship now that he could read and had been there for quite a while.

Matthew roamed the halls for a while before finding a nice window that was low and beside a wall he could lean on. He slid down the wall and pulled his knees to his chest before looking out the window. The moon was high in the sky, shining down on the clouds casting a silver glow on almost everything. The clouds just above the wastelands had a little bit of an orange glow. There were a few terras he could see in the distance. One of them had a few homes with lights shining through the windows.

Canada sighed and rested his head on his knees. He was missing home badly at that moment. He wanted to see Kuma and sleep in his own bed. The nation didn't really mind it in the Atmos, he was starting to think of the Storm Hawks as younger siblings, but he was longing to be home. He didn't let it show during the day. He was occupied enough during the day to almost forget about it, but at night was when the homesickness got to him.

The Canadian was taken out of his thoughts by a buzz in his pocket. He quickly took out his phone to find a text from Prussia. He was a little bit disappointed that it wasn't Alfred, but opened it anyways.

 _"Yo! How even?"_ Gilbert had texted. A second later there was another. _"Like wut did u do to upset the gods enough for them to drop u in another dimension?"_

 _"Are you drunk? Also how did you know?"_ Matthew texted back.

 _"No, surprisingly. America called me."_ The reply came seconds later. Canada was surprised it was so quick. _"So what's it like over their?"_

Canada cringed at the wrong form of there, but didn't bother to correct it. _"Not bad. They have FLYING MOTORCYCLEs. What could be better?"_

 _"I saw that. Alfred sent me the photos btw. Nice pics."_ The Prussian replied. _"Meet any new people?"_

 _"Lots. It's pretty cool; there are some people that aren't human. Like Junko, he's a wallop, but no one seems to care that he's not human."_ The nation texted. _"It's kinda nice that people aren't getting judged by their species."_

 _"I wanna be there so bad. It sounds so much awesomer than here."_ Gilbert texted. _"And keep u company of course ;)"_

A small smile spread across Matthew's face. The Prussian always said small things like this that would make him happy. _"It's great here, but I'm a little homesick."_

 _"It's only been like a day and a half."_ Gilbert replied.

 _"It's been about a month for me! The time moves differently here."_ Canada texted back quickly.

 _"So...1 hour=1ish days, 1 day=24ish days, 1 month=2.5 years? 1st being earth time and 2nd being other dimension time? That's insane!"_ The reply came a little later than before. _"Quick math and estimations, but holy crap."_

_"Yeah."_

_"That means that America's flight to England is about 16 hours, not including drive to and from the airports. That's_ _over half a month 4 you!"_ Prussia texted.

 _"Al's going to England?"_ The blond replied trying to push the time difference to the back of his mind.

 _"Yeet. He said that he tried to explain what was happening over the phone, but of course Arthur didn't believe him. And he also kinda forgot who you were... Ass."_ The albino texted _. "How is this working even?"_

 _"Not surprised there tbh. You mean the texting right? I don't know. I was thinking about that earlier when Alfred called. I didn't have to wait hours to get each word from him. It was just a normal speed convo."_ Matthew explained. _"The time on my cell is what it would be back home too and the battery hasn't died. It's still at like 60%!"_

 _"I'm not going to bother questioning dimension time physics and shit. It works and I can text with you so I have no beef with it."_ Prussia replied.

_"Who even uses 'beef' anymore?" Canada asked._

_"Ohhhh throwing shade! You jelly at my use of beef? Of how savage and on fleek it was? Or u just salty?"_ The albino replied. He also sent a cry laughing emoji and a 100 under lined as well. _"I'm hip and down with the new slang."_

 _"I am so done."_ Canada typed with a sigh.

_"Your nopeing out then? XD" Prussia replied._

_"Yup. I'm going to try and sleep. It's gotta be like three in the morning."_ Matthew texted. He was starting to get a bit sleepy.

 _"Sleep is for the weak!"_ Prussia texted back. _"Have fun tho."_

Canada didn't reply instead he rested his head against his knees and closed his eyes. He started to slowly drift off to sleep.

-❄"If I get married, I don't want a flower girl. I want all my partners' exs throwing salt."❄-

In the morning, Matthew woke up with the sun in his eyes. He groaned and turned his head to try and fall asleep again. He sighed and opened them again with a frown. The nation let his knees down and stretched before grabbing his phone that had fell out of his pocket and stood up.

Canada groaned and stretched his back. That was not one of the better spots he had picked to sleep. He started off towards the kitchen. He was really craving pancakes and syrup. The Canadian passed by the hanger and saw that it was still empty. He was beginning to wonder how early it was.

Matthew walked into the kitchen to find Finn asleep on the counter with his face in a bowl of what looked like oatmeal. He laughed quietly and started to rummage through the cabinets. He found ingredients that resembled the ones he needed; flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, milk, eggs and butter. He had no idea if they would act the same way, but was too hungry to really care.

**AN: Happy Easter/April Fools! Also, been posting little meme/vine mini fic things on my Tumblr ( tallpoppy-canada) and posting a bunch of aph Canada related things!**


	18. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

**AN: Yeah, I left it on Mattie cooking pancakes. Idk either... Also I realized I never mentioned Aerrow's special move thingy. Hopefully editing me remembers to add it(Editing me was too lazy).**

Canada was happy with how his 'pancakes' had turned out. They looked and smelled almost exactly the same except they were neon pink. The colour didn't stop him from eating them though. He had cooked a lot extra just in case a hungry teen ended up wanting some. He was tempted to leave one on the sleeping Finn's face, but held off.

The nation pulled out his phone and went over the messages from the night before. If Gilbert was right about the ratios, which seemed correct, he would be here for at least another couple of months before Alfred would even get to Arthur's house. Not counting the time it would take to convince the Englishman as well as figure out a possible solution. Canada and the Storm Hawks didn't seem to be getting any farther finding the crystal. Every place they checked was a dead end trying to find the man.

The Canadian was starting to wrap this mind around this and was getting used to the idea. He was trying think of the positive and pushing back the negative.

-❄"History has its eyes on you."❄-

"Hey, Mattie!" Aerrow called down the hall after the nation. Canada paused and waited for the Sky Knight to catch up. "Ready to learn air fighting yet?"

"You're really persistent with that." Matthew said with a smile. "You've been asking me that every day for what? Two, three months now?"

"I am determined." Aerrow said with a deadly serious face. "Walking on the wings is one thing, but fighting is a lot different. You're pretty good at fighting and getting less tense with wing walking so...?"

The Canadian took a deep breath. He was ready to give into the Sky Knights wishes, but on his own terms. "Fine, but you have to eat a healthy breakfast for a year."

"A year! No way! Eight months and you've got a deal!" Aerrow said sticking out his hand. Matthew took it and shook it with a smirk. He had been trying to get these kids on a better diet than the junk they had been eating with little success.

The nation really cared for the Storm Hawks; they were almost like a family to him now. He didn't really like that he was getting attached to them knowing he would have to leave eventually or he would out live them. Speaking of which, he still hadn't told them that he was immortal. It wasn't that Matthew was keeping it from them, it's just he would forget then never find a good time to bring it up.

"Great! Let's go!" Aerrow said grabbing the blond's wrist and pulling him along to the hanger. He ran over and jumped onto his skimmer, Radarr trotting behind them. Canada hadn't seen the Sky Knight so happy, it was nice. There weren't a lot of things for them to get this excited over. "Going out!" He called over the coms.

Matthew climbed onto his skimmer and started it following Aerrow down the run way. The condor was stopped beside and abandoned Terra to conserve power. They didn't need any supplies at the moment and no Cyclonians were anywhere near them.

The Canadian had seen Aerrow and Dark Ace fight on their skimmers enough times in the past couple months to know most of Aerrow's tricks. Not to mention he was often the teens sparring partner.

They headed about a kilometre away from the Condor before they climbed up onto their wings.

"Just don't think about that we're in the sky." Aerrow said pulling out his short sword.

Canada rolled his eyes and pulled out his dagger. "Uh huh." He grumbled. Aerrow just smirked and jumped over to the Canadians wing. "That's all the instructions I'm getting?"

"Yeah, what else would you need? We're sparring on the wings of a skimmer, don't fall or don't stab each other is implied. We don't have many healing crystals left again. There aren't any ground rules." Aerrow said voice laced with sarcasm. Matthew just rolled his eyes again, but too took up a fighting stance.

Aerrow attacked first, going for the feet. He was planning on putting Canada off balance. Matthew hopped out of the way and kicked the sky knights back. Aerrow stumbled, but caught himself. He turned and swiped at Canada again. The blond stopped the blade with his own and pushed back using his height as an advantage.

The nation didn't want to move too far from the spot he was standing on. Aerrow was trying his hardest to get him to move, jumping and flipping around in hopes of getting him to step one way or another. Matthew mostly pivoted one way or another to block the Sky Knights attacks.

"Move a little." Aerrow teased hopping behind Canada and dropped down to a crouch before kicking his leg out and knocking the nation over. The teen straightened up and went to pin Matthew, but he rolled out of the way and onto his feet. "See, not that bad."

The Canadian laughed at Aerrow's comment and steadied himself again on the wing. The Sky Knight took a step back so that he was on the edge of the wing tip. He jumped and landed back on the tip in a crouch. Canada was confused seeing this, but soon understood when Aerrow's weight offset the balance of the skimmer and he stumbled forward. The Sky Knight laughed seeing Canada stumble. He charged at the blond and tackled him to the ground and pinned him. Matthew could have easily overpowered him and pushed him off, but was ready to be flying the skimmer like a normal sane person.

"Got ya!" The Sky Knight said putting his blade away and standing up. He offered a hand to Canada and the nation took it. "That wasn't so bad was it?"

"I guess, but don't expect me to be doing that in a battle. I'll stick to what I know best." Canada said also putting his dagger away. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. I got an update from a friend. He says that Alfred is flying over to my 'Dad's' house to try and convince him to believe him. That flight is at least sixteen hours there and over half a month here."

"That's good." Aerrow said. "In the meantime, we'll keep looking for that man. He's got to be out there somewhere."


	19. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

**AN: Holy shit, nineteen chapters in and I haven't gotten to the 'main conflict' yet, there's been like two real dog fights. What have I been doing? Uggghh. Do you guys even like this? And posting early cuz we're supposed to be getting a nasty ice storm this weekend. Knowing my luck, we won't have power…**

Over half a month had passed again and the Storm Hawks were running out of leads to follow for the man and hadn't heard from Alfred yet. Matthew had started to adjust to the idea that he could be stuck in the Atmos for a while. He had almost gotten over his homesickness and the Condor was slowly becoming his home, but he still missed his land.

Canada still wasn't able to sleep very well in his cot. He had found a bunch of different spots to sleep that were unconventional. Tonight he was in his favourite one of them, in the hanger on top of a heating duct. He was curled up and happy to be in the warm small space.

The nation was dead asleep when an annoying buzzing woke him up. It took him a second to realize what it was in his drowsy state. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and blinded himself with the light. As his eyes adjusted he saw the contact and answered it.

"Hello?" He asked slurring a little bit.

"Mattie? Are you drunk?" Alfred asked. "You're on speaker by the way. England's here."

"No, you just woke me up." Canada said with a yawn.

"Whoops, sorry." The American apologized. "Have you found any leads on that crystal?"

"Yeah, we found out from some Greek looking people that a giant named Gundstaff could have it. He did have it at one point, but have it to a man with a multicoloured poncho." Matthew said. "We've been following some leads, but haven't been able to locate him."

"Who's this we?" Arthur demanded.

"Some friends." The Canadian said defensively.

"He's still skeptical about this whole thing. I've showed him the photos and told him what you said." America grumbled. "Do you have any more photos of weird things?"

"No, I haven't taken anymore." Matthew said looking through his gallery. "Oh wait, I have a few." He said sending a bunch from when Radarr had 'borrowed' his phone and took countless photos of every little thing on the Condor last week.

"What is that thing?" England asked. Canada assumed that he was either seeing Radarr, Junko or Stork. "Why is it blue and smiling?"

"That's Radarr. He's a... I'm not really sure the name of his species. He's Aerrow's co-pilot." Canada explained.

"A blue lemur thing as a co-pilot? And I thought you had low standards having your brother as yours occasionally." Arthur said. Matthew heard Alfred start to say something, but was cut off by England. "That world has flying motorcycles? It seems like a perfect fit for you. Anyways, I'll start looking into this. Maybe I can find something in my spell books. Hopefully we'll be able to get you back soon Canadia. This could take us a few weeks to find the right information."

"Thanks Arthur." Matthew said. He sighed hearing his name being pronounced wrong again.

"We'll let you go back to sleep. Keep us updated." Alfred said. "Bye Canada! Talk to you soon!"

Matthew looked at the battery level on his phone after he hung up and realized it was close to dying. He wondered if it would take as long to charge as it did to ware down. He shrugged and set it on the pipe beside him before falling back asleep.

In the morning he told the Storm Hawks that his brother had called again and updated them on what he had said.

-❄ "Canada is like a loft apartment over a really great party. Like: "Keep it down, eh?"❄-

"There they are!" Aerrow called seeing the convoy just ahead of them. This was one of the rare occasions when they attacked the Cyclonians first. Matthew revved his skimmer waiting for Piper to identify the correct cargo ship.

"Third one from the back should have the crystals!" Piper said over the coms. She was running the mission from the bridge of the Condor with Stork. The plan was for Finn and Matthew to distract the Cyclonians while Aerrow and Junko snuck aboard the ship. "Go and get em boys!"

Aerrow revved his skimmer and sped down the run way. He slowed down enough to let Finn and Canada pass. Matthew and Finn charged straight for the convoy shooting everything in sight while Aerrow and Junko stayed in the clouds.

Gunners started to fire at the blonds from the cargo ship and Matthew started to take them out. He took the left while Finn took the right. Canada flew straight at one of the gunners and fired at him. His blast hit its mark and the man jumped off the side of the ship. The second one looked angry that the nation took out is coworker and managed to catch Matthew off guard.

The Canadian spotted the bolt at the last second, but didn't have enough time to roll out of the way. It hit his skimmers left engine and he started leaning to the left. Matthew was glad it only took away some of his speed and not his controls. He turned to face the man and pulled a throwing knife from his belt. He decided to take Finn's advice and use them in battle more often.

The glowing purple blade cut right through the man's hand and stuck into the wall behind him. The talon hissed in pain and pulled back before retreating back into the ship and leaving his gun. Canada shot at it before anyone could take his position and blew it up. He flew close to the ship and reached out to retrieve his knife from the wall.

The Canadian flew back out into the open sky in time to see a squad of Cyclonian skimmers leaving the ships runway. He spotted Finn charging in their direction and flew that way ready to protect him. He quickly counted the eight skimmers as he approached. Matthew pulled up to gain some altitude before diving down and shooting at the talons. He managed to down two right away and damage another.

Finn was flying after one of the Cyclonians, but was being tailed by two others. Canada knew that he also must have had at least two on his own back, but flew in the teen's direction anyway. He fell into line behind the pair and started to fire being extra careful not to hit Finn's skimmer. The nation hit one of the Cyclonians engines and then their wing.

The man broke off as his skimmer started to die and fell from the sky. Canada focused all of his attention to the other on Finn. His focus was broken by a shot flying by his wing. He rolled to the right and broke away from the talon that was chasing Finn. The nation looked over his shoulder to see the two skimmers following him.

Matthew made a quick decision and pulled up making a tight loop. At the very top of his loop he pulled another knife from his belt and threw it at the woman on the right. It hit right in the crook of her neck and she fell limp on her controls. Canada could smell burning flesh as he finished the loop. The woman's skimmer had fell out of pace with her comrades and the blond sped up to grab his knife back. He refocused on the other talon and started to fire at him. This man rolled and banked trying to avoid the nation's blasts, but was ultimately unable to.

"We're in." Aerrow said over the coms. The blond knew that they wouldn't have to hold on much longer not that it would be a problem if they had to, there were only two remaining enemy skimmers left in the air. One that Finn had tailing him and the one Canada had been tailing. The teen looked over his shoulder and spotted Matthew and flew his way.

Finn flew straight at him and they passed each other as Canada played chicken with the Cyclonian. The man pulled away first leaving his skimmers belly open. The nation easily hit him and the talons skimmer fell from the sky.

"You guys almost done yet?" Finn asked over the coms as the pair of blonds started to circle around the Cyclonian convoy.

"There's nothing here, but a few engine crystals!" Junko complained.

"Grab them and go. The other ships have noticed. We need to get out of here!" Piper demanded.

"Right, let's go." Aerrow said. The red head and the wallop got out of there as quickly as they could and the Storm Hawks retreated.

**AN: Also, if you want updates about when I'm posting or if something has changed please follow my tumblr(TallPoppy-Canada). I post a bunch of APH Canada stuff as well as the occasional oneshot! You can also ask me any question about my versions of Canada or about me.**


	20. Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

**AN: First time posting from my new laptop. My old one died after 8 or 9 years. The battery hadn't held a charge in years and the graphics card was starting to go. I'm a person who really gets attached to technology and didn't want a new computer. I was the same with my phone too…**

"I really need to get new clothes." Canada mumbled walking out of the laundry room with his freshly washed clothes in hand. Both outfits he had with him in his backpack were starting to become worn and tattered after about six months of constant wear. They had holes and were fading. He walked back into his room and set his clothes into his bed before changing into it. Only having two outfits made him have to do laundry quite often.

Matthew left his room to go to the hanger. He still had a few marks he wanted to buff out of his skimmer from their latest supply run. They had attacked a Cyclonian convoy in hopes of finding healing crystals, but found nothing they could use. They were currently hooked into the underside of a Terra to fix a few ticks in the Condor's engine. They were grounded for the next day or two.

"You got up early today." The Sky Knight commented looking up from his work as soon as he heard Matthew enter. Radarr gave a chirp as well. "It's not even lunch yet!"

"I'm a night owl, not an early bird." Canada said. "And things needed to get done. What did you have for breakfast this morning?"

"An ananab." Aerrow said begrudgingly. "I've got like what? A week left of this?"

"It hasn't been two months yet. You've still got over half a year left!" Matthew teased.

"Awww come on." The red head groaned starting back on his work. "I miss my sugar coated chocolate granola."

Matthew laughed a little and walked over to his skimmer to start his repairs. "Do you guys have any medical supplies on board?" He asked.

"Yeah, we've got the basic stuff like bandages, maybe some needles. Never really used them though. We don't know how to use them either." The Sky Knight shrugged. "Why?"

"Well, we've got no healing crystals left so it's a good idea to have this stuff on board just in case." Canada said.

"I guess so." Aerrow mumbled absentmindedly focusing on his skimmer. Radarr was beside him handing him tools. Matthew went back to his own repairs again and finished them quickly, it wasn't anything major. He stood up and wiped off his hands before helping Aerrow finish his. "What are we going to do today? Cleanings done, laundry and other chores are done; Piper and Stork don't need help so?"

"If you're trying to get me to fight on the wings again it will cost you another month of healthy breakfasts. No, actually a whole month of only healthy meals." Canada said putting a hand on his hip.

"Yeah, nah." The red head said scratching the back of his neck. "Maybe just normal sparring? Or we could go out on our skimmers."

"Probably not the best idea. The Condor is grounded so any unwanted attention could be bad." Canada said and the Sky Knight nodded in agreement. "Have you ever played Chinese chops sticks or tic-tac-toe?"

"What is that? I've never heard of either." Aerrow said rasing an eyebrow.

"Tic-tac-toe needs paper and something to write with so let's do Chinese chopsticks." Matthew said. "You play with your fingers, two on each hand to start. Then we take turns touching the others hand. What you're touched with adds onto what you already have and if it's over five, that hand dies. Five is okay, but six isn't. If you end up with only one hand you can use your turn to break up that number and revive your other hand. Got it?"

"Nope. Let's try this." The sky knight said. "Let's sit in the sun." He said walking out of the hanger and on to the run way. Matthew followed him out and sat down cross legged across from him. It started out with just the two of them, but soon Piper and Junko joined in. They got a hang of it quickly and started to make bets on who lost. They would have to do all of the chores.

"Where did you learn this game?" Junko asked after taking his turn.

"When I was younger my 'Dad' took me on one of his business trips to another country. He was busy a lot so I got left with my cousin for the most part. He taught me this game." Canada explained.

"Why do you always say Dad as 'Dad?'" Piper asked pointing out the stress on the word.

"Well, I don't call my dad, dad. I call him by his first name, Arthur." The nation explained. "We don't have the greatest relationship. He forgets me and I mostly avoid him. We're not related by blood anyways."

"How does he forget you?" Aerrow asked.

"Remember when I told you that Alfred was flying over to Arthur's house? That was because he had to convince Arthur that I actually exist. And to get him to look through his books." Canada said with a shrug.

"Does he have a memory problem or something?" Piper asked raising an eye brow.

"Not that I know of. If he does, then it had to be passed down to Alfred as well." Matthew said with a smile. Being forgotten or looked over didn't really bother him anymore. "He's not nearly as bad, but it still happens."

"That's terrible." Piper said.

"It doesn't bother me." The Canadian shrugged knocking Junko out of the game. He didn't split his hand when he had the chance. "Got away with a lot of stuff because people forgot me."

"Awww, come on." The wallop complained. His mood changed quickly. "I like this game. It's fun."

"It's definitely good a time killer." Aerrow said. "How is the engine upgrades going?"

"They're not really close to done. Stork called a break because he needed to read up on one part." Piper said. "I would have done the reading, but he insisted."

"I love and hate quite days." Aerrow said with a sigh. "It's good to have some down time, but it's weird that there is quiet like this in a war."

"Don't jinx it." Piper said.

"Where is Finn?" Canada asked splitting his hand again.

"He's still sleeping as far as I know. He still nursing that paper cut." Piper said. "I thought it would have healed by now. Your burns and cuts heal quickly." She said to the nation.

"Well I'm different." Canada said. He still hadn't found a good time to bring up that he was a nation. Matthew would have said something now, but not everyone was here and he didn't want to have to explain it more than once. "I still can't believe that you heal every little thing with those crystals."

"It's going to have to change now that we don't have any." Piper said with a sigh. She tapped Aerrow's hand and knocked him out of the game. "We're going to have to be a lot more careful now."

"Awww." Aerrow groaned. He lay back on his back on the deck. "This game is fun."

"I'm going to check on Stork." Piper said standing up. "You win by default." She said to Matthew with a smile.

"Let us know if you need any help!" Junko called after her. "Wanna play again?" He asked excitedly.

The trio played for a little while longer before Aerrow was distracted. "You hear that?"


	21. Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty One

"You hear that?" Aerrow asked looking at the clouded sky.

"Hear what?" Junko asked looking up from their game. "I hear an engine or something. It's probably just Finn snoring." He said dismissively.

"No Junko. Finn's snoring isn't that loud, yours on the other hand though." Aerrow said absentmindedly. The Sky Knight stood up and looked around. The clouds were very thick and dark with rain. Canada got to his feet and looked around as well. He suddenly felt claustrophobic with the cloud cover. The nation's eyes scanned the clouds looking for anything out of place. "There." Aerrow said poking his shoulder and pointing.

Matthew looked to where he was pointing and saw a few dark shadows in the clouds. "Those definitely aren't birds." He said as the shadows materialized into skimmers. He could see the symbol of the Cyclonians on the riders and skimmers.

"Get to your skimmers. Protect the Condor!" Aerrow said helping Junko up. The trio ran back into the hanger hearing alarms sounding. "Junko, go wake up Finn." The Sky Knight said starting his skimmer. Junko nodded and ran back into the ship. "Let's go!"

Matthew started his skimmer and sped down the runway after Aerrow. The talons were already firing at them before they were off the runway. Canada pulled his wings and kept close to Aerrow. The Sky Knight was missing his co-pilot. The blond looked around and did a quick count of the Cyclonians.

"There's at least fifty, maybe more." Matthew said over the coms. He broke away from Aerrow after hearing blaster fire behind them.

"Keep them away from the engine." Aerrow called. "Piper, we're going to need to get out of here. Quickly!"

"We're trying!" Piper said. He could hear some banging in the background of the audio.

"We can't finish the upgrade. We're going to have to patch it for now." Stork said sounding panicked. "It could take a little while."

"Do what you can." The red head said calmly.

Canada only heard bits and pieces of the conversation focusing on keeping in the air and shooting down the talons that got close to the Condor's engines. Matthew ducked as a bolt of energy flew over his head. He looked over his shoulder to see a trio of Cyclonians on his tail. He reacted quickly, pulling up until his skimmer stalled. He shifted all his weight back and fell backwards to where the other skimmers were still flying up after him. He started to shoot as he fell; downing one of the talons and damaging one of the others.

Matthew levelled out as the pair that was tailing him was joined by three others. He gritted his teeth and started to pitch and roll out of the way of the talons shots. He spotted Finn coming down the run way with Radarr on his back. They flew over to where Aerrow was shooting down Cyclonians. Once the pair got close enough, Radarr jumped onto the Sky Knights skimmer. Finn broke away and went after other talons.

Canada was distracted for a second watching the teens and one of the talons managed to land a hit. "Shit." He cursed seeing the huge burn spot on his lower left wing. The nation looked over his shoulder again to see more Cyclonians after him. He pulled closer to the Condor where Junko was manning a cannon.

The wallop made easy work of the Cyclonians, picking all of them off. Matthew smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Junko returned the gesture and aimed the cannon at more of the talons.

"Aerrow!" Finn called over the coms. The nation looked around trying to spot the teens. He spotted Finn's blue thrusters among a sea of red. The blond was pointing at someone in the distance. "Dark Ace is here!"

"See him. He's got a few more squads with him." The Sky Knight said. Canada saw Aerrow turn to his left to meet the Ace in the sky. "Piper how long on that patch?!"

"Ten minutes, maybe longer." Piper replied. "How's it going out there?"

"Not too bad. Minimal damage to the Condor and our skimmers." Aerrow said. "Dark Ace just showed his face and brought along a few more talons."

"Not the right time for rhymes." Finn commented. "Wait, was that a rhyme?"

"Be careful out there." Piper warned completely ignoring Finn.

By now the fight had drawn away from the Condor and further out into the sky. Aerrow and the Dark Ace were fighting on top of the older man's skimmer. Canada kept a close eye on the pair as he shot at other talons. The fight circled the pair, but didn't interrupt them. Junko had hopped onto his skimmer and joined the battle.

Matthew shifted his focus back on the remaining talons. The Storm Hawks were making quick work of them easily knocking them out of the sky. The nation saw a talon that was shooting at Radarr and fell in line behind the man. He shot at the enemy and the Cyclonian broke away from Radarr. Matthew followed him and shot at him until the skimmer was falling from the sky. He looked around for his next target and spotted a skimmer that was getting a little too close to him for his liking.

The nation pulled a tight turn and charged straight at the talon. He was playing chicken with them waiting for the talon to flinch first. Matthew narrowed his eyes as they got closer not doubting for a second that the Cyclonian would break away first. The talon bit their lip and pulled left at the last second. Canada laughed and made a sharp U-turn to follow the enemy. He shot out the talons engine and watched them bail and pull their shoot.

Matthew looked around again. There were fewer talons in the sky than before, but Junko was now flying Finn's skimmer as the blond teen shot at the Cyclonians with his cross bow. Radarr was off in the distance dogfighting a pair of talons. The Canadians attention was suddenly caught by a pained scream and he looked over in Aerrow's direction.

The Dark Ace had him by the throat and was holding him just off his feet. The Sky Knight was weakly struggling against the man's grip, but stopped as a sword was pointed at his face.


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty Two

Dark Ace sneered and brought his blade closer to Aerrow's face. Matthew pulled his skimmer and flew as fast as he could towards the pair. He pulled a throwing knife from his pocket and readied to throw. As he got closer, Canada could see a large gash in the red heads side just above his hip.

As soon as the Canadian got close enough he threw his knife. The blade hit its mark sticking into the Cyclonians collar bone making him drop Aerrow. The Sky Knight crumpled in a pile on the skimmers wing. Dark Ace took a step back and pulled the knife out of his shoulder. He dropped it on the wing next to the teen. Aerrow reached for it, but the talon stepped on his hand. He kicked the Sky Knight in the side sending him falling over the edge of the wing.

Matthew gasped seeing the teen falling and sped up trying to catch him. Raddar was too far away to catch him and Junko and Finn didn't have enough room on their skimmer. The nation was the only one that could help Aerrow. He dived down keeping a low profile on his skimmer to reduce drag, but he wasn't catching up quick enough. The canadian change his skimmer back to bike mode and it started to fall quicker.

"Aerrow! Matthew!" Junko yelled through the coms as the pair fell past the cloud line out of his view. "Aerrow, if you can hear me open your glider!"

Matthew didn't see the Sky Knight make a move to do so or respond. He must have been unconscious. Canada was catching up to him now, but so were the wastelands. He finally got close enough and reached out. He managed to get his arm around Aerrow's waist and pull him onto the skimmer. Matthew opened up his wings just in time to avoid the lava.

"Got him." Canada said. He had the unconscious Sky Knight tucked under one arm. He didn't move at all as he pulled him further onto the skimmer.

"Is he okay?" Finn demanded worriedly.

"He's alive." Matthew replied looking over the damage. The cut in his side is what he was most worried about, it was still bleeding. "Where do you keep all of your medical supplies?" He asked calmly. The nation knew that he had to keep a level head and not scare the Storm Hawks about how bad it really was.

"Third door on the left from the hanger." Piper said. "The repairs are done! We can leave."

"Good, then let's get out of here!" Finn yelled.

Matthew resurfaced above the clouds and quickly located the Condor. He flew for it and saw Finn and Junko just landing, Radarr with Aerrow's skimmer not too far behind. Finn ran out to the run way and covered Canada with his crossbow as he landed. The Cyclonians didn't let up as they fled indoors. As soon as the nation was inside he could feel the Condor start to move.

Canada hopped off his skimmer and grabbed Aerrow bridal style and ran towards the med bay. He could feel the Sky Knight's blood soaking through his sweater. He ran into the room and carefully set Aerrow down on the bed. For the first time the red head moved and started to curl in on himself with a pained expression and a groan. Finn and Junko poked their heads into the room and took in the scene. They looked terrified and worried for their friend.

"Finn, Junko, can you help me with this?" Matthew asked. Neither of them made a move. The nation was digging through the drawers trying to find anything that might help the Sky Knight. He was most concerned with stopping the bleeding. He managed to find a few clean cloths and some gauze. He turned back to the table and put a hand onto Aerrow's shoulder. The Sky Knight tensed up. "Can you lie on your back please?" He asked knowing that Aerrow was most likely not paying any attention to him.

"Hurts." The red head said quietly. Matthew was glad to hear him talk and know he was semi-conscious.

"I know. I want to help you." Canada said calmly. "I need to check out that cut, but I can't when you're like this."

"Okay." Aerrow murmured and rolled slowly on to his back. Radarr ran into the room and jumped up on to the bed. He looked over his friend with concern, but knew there wasn't anything he could do to help. The lemur curled around the sky Knights head and played with his hair.

"Is he breathing, is he going to survive this?" Piper demanded running into the room. She had a panicked look on her face.

"Piper, calm down. He's going to be okay." Matthew assured her as he put pressure on the wound with a cloth to stop the bleeding. She was right at his side ready to do what she could. "Hold this here." Canada said gesturing to the now blood stained cloth. Piper looked a little bit unsure, but helped anyways. "Keep pressure on it. It will help with the bleeding."

"How can we fix this?" Piper asked as Matthew tried to find anything that could help Aerrow.

"It's way too big to heal on its own open. I'm going to have to stitch it closed." Canada said opening another drawer and finally finding a needle and thread.

"Will that even work?" Junko asked from the door.

"Yes." Matthew said turning back to Aerrow. Piper took a step back and watched as Canada took the cloth off the wound to inspect it. It was a huge cut, about eight inches long curved like a frown just above the hip. It was fairly deep as well, any deeper and it could have done some very deadly damage. The edges of the wound were burned by the hot blade, but the rest wasn't and was still bleeding. Matthew took a deep breath; it was going to take all his limited knowledge to help Aerrow. He was happy that he had went with John into the field a few times otherwise the Sky Knight wouldn't have a chance in surviving.

"So?" Piper asked nervously.

"It's pretty bad, but fixable." Canada said slowly trying not to show his worry. He pulled a throwing knife from his pocket.

"What are you doing with that?" Finn asked seeing the weapon.

"I need to cauterize the rest of the wound." The nation explained as the blade heated up. "It means burning the wound closed so it can't bleed anymore."

"Burn?" Aerrow asked moving his head a little. "Hurt?"

"Yeah, sorry. It will hurt and I don't have anything to give you that could stop that. It will be better in the long run." Matthew said sadly. He knew that this would cause the teen a lot of pain. "Junko, Finn, I need you to hold his arms and legs down just in case he wants to move. Piper, keep him talking and calm."

**AN: Not sorry for that reference ;) Also! Posted a smol song fic for PruCan on my tumblr(TallPoppy-Canada). Just search "closer' on the blog and it should be the first or second thing.**


	23. Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty Three

"Junko, Finn, I need you to hold his arms and legs down just in case he wants to move. Piper, keep him talking and calm." Canada asked knowing that this would hurt and he didn't want Aerrow moving. He was worried that if he did it would cause more damage. Finn and Junko stepped into the room and the wallop took Aerrow's legs. Finn had one arm and Piper held the other hand.

"Where are we?" Aerrow asked. He sounded like he was starting to come out of his drowsiness.

"On the Condor. Stork is taking us close to Terra Neon." Piper said. "The Cyclonians didn't follow us."

"That's good." Aerrow mumbled. "You lost a knife." He said directed at Matthew.

"That's what you're worried about right now?" Finn asked. Matthew brought the glowing knife closer to the cut and he saw Aerrow flinch and whine. He made eye contact with Piper and she started to ask random questions to keep Aerrow's mind off what was happening. Canada put his hand just above the gash to spread it open a little before touching the heated flat edge of the knife to the torn skin.

Aerrow bit his lip and groaned. "That hurts." He whimpered with tears welling at the corner of his eyes.

"I know, I'm sorry." Canada said biting his lip and moving to finish the first side of the wound. He wanted to get it over as quick as possible and not cause any more pain for the teen. He put a hand on the underside and started the other half of the cut. "Almost done."

"He's going to be okay right?" Junko asked quietly as Piper kept Aerrow's attention. The Sky Knight wasn't talking anymore. He was concentrating on Piper and not letting a sound escape his lips.

"He's not out of the woods yet. He lost a lot of blood and there is still chance of infection." Canada responded touching the blade to the other side of the cut. He felt the red head tense up again and grit his teeth. The nation could see that he was refusing to make a sound. Matthew blotted the last remaining blood from the cut and sighed. "Done." He said earring a sigh of relief from all. "Now I need to stitch it closed."

"Stitch? Like clothes?" Aerrow slurred raising an eyebrow. "I'm tired. Can I have a nap?"

"Not yet, stay awake a little longer." Canada said taking the needle and thread. "Yeah, like clothing. It will make it heal faster and reduce the scar."

"Cool." The Sky Knight mumbled. "Will it hurt?"

"A little bit. A few pin pricks here and there." Matthew said treading the needle and tying a knot on the end. "You might feel a little bit of pulling and pressure."

The nation started right away with a buttonhole stitch. He figured it would be the best one out of the few stitches he knew. It took him a few seconds to get a hang of it after so many years of never using it. The final product didn't look pretty, but it would work. He cleaned the edges of the cut of the remaining blood and snipped the thread.

"Okay, all done." Matthew said setting his supplies aside. He grabbed a bit of gauze and covered the stitches. Piper, Finn and Junko let go of the Sky Knights limbs.

Aerrow relaxed and groaned. "It still hurts."

"It's going to be sore for a while." The Canadian said putting a hand on his shoulder. He still had Aerrow's blood on his hands.

"Oh." The sky knight said. He had a worried look on his face. "Forever?"

"No, once it heals you won't feel it anymore." Canada said shaking his head.

"How long will that take?" Piper asked raising an eyebrow.

"Hard to say. Everyone is different, but he's young, so less time than an older person, but the fact that his body hasn't healed anything on its own for a long time could have an effect on the healing." Matthew said and took a breath. "I don't know exactly."

Piper nodded accepting the answer. "Rough estimate? Like a week?"

"No, more like a month or longer. He could be up and moving in a week or two." Canada said grabbing a blanket he saw earlier in one of the cabinets and draping it over Aerrow. Piper blinked in surprise and nodded. "You guys should get some rest."

"What about you?" Junko asked raising an eyebrow. Aerrow had his eyes closed and his breath was even. Canada knew that he was sleeping.

"I still need to watch him. Loosing that much blood could have a huge effect on him." Canada said running a hand through his hair. "I'm sure he will be fine, but just to be safe."

"Alright." Piper said starting to move towards the door. Finn and Junko were already there, but were hesitant. "Just let us know if you need anything." She said turning and pushing the guys out as well. Matthew could tell that they were still scared for their friend.

Canada looked around the room for the first time. The bed was in the centre and cabinets lined the wall where the door was. On the opposite wall was a large window with a chair beside it. The other two walls were completely blank aside from a clock.

The nation pulled the chair close to Aerrow's bed and started to watch his breathing closely. He sat there for hours just watching. He was relieved when the Sky Knight woke up asking for something to drink. Matthew was confident that Aerrow was out of the woods and would recover just fine.

-❄"Meet the latest graduate of kings collage. I shouldn't brag, but dag, I amaze and astonish."❄-

"Good to see you up and moving." Stork said seeing Aerrow and Matthew walk onto the bridge.

"Good to be moving." The Sky Knight said with a smile. It had been almost two weeks of bed rest and it was his first time walking. He still had the stiches in and Canada was watching him closely to make sure he wasn't going to rip them.

**AN: Started to play Attack on Titan Tribute Game again. Say hi if you see me, I'm TallPoppy. I'm almost always in forest III**


	24. Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Four

"Last one." Matthew said snipping the last stitch and carefully pulling the bits out.

"Thank you Mattie!" Aerrow said happily looking down at the almost healed cut. Radarr sniffed it lightly looking up at his friend.

"Do not rip it open again." Canada warned shaking the scissors in the teen's direction. "I will not be happy."

"I won't. I'm going to be a lot more careful." The red head said running a hand through his hair. "That sucked." The sky knight slipped off the bench slowly as Matthew cleaned the scissors and put them away. Radarr climbed carefully up on to Aerrow's shoulder. "Thank you so much for everything you've done. Without you, I would have died."

"It's no problem." Canada said with a smile. "After all you've done for me; it's the least I can do."

"Where did you learn this? It's amazing." Aerrow asked as they left the med bay.

"Way back when, my friend was a field doctor. I tagged along with him every once and a while, when I wasn't busy, to help and learn." Matthew explained. "This was quite a while ago and most of the techniques are a bit outdated, but they still work well enough."

"You always talk like you're older than you are." The Sky Knight pointed out. "You're only a couple years older than me?"

"Oh shit, I never told you guys did I?" Canada groaned face palming. The pair walked into the bridge and the door shut behind them. "I'm not human."

"What?" Piper asked looking up from her book. Finn, Junko and Stork were there too.

"I'm sorry; I completely forgot to tell you guys." Matthew said with a small nervous smile. He felt bad and almost like he had been lying the whole time. "I'm a nation. Which means I'm a lot older than I look."

"Nation?" Aerrow asked sitting down at the round table where the other Storm Hawks were. Matthew took a seat in between Piper and Finn. "How old are you?"

"I don't know, four, maybe five hundred years?" The nation said gauging the Storm Hawks reactions. They seemed shocked. Even Stork turned around to listen. "A nation is an 'immoral' being that is the personification of a country. A country is pretty much what a Terra is to you. We live as long as our nation does."

"Can you being here affect that?" Piper asked concerned.

"No, we are affected by our land. If it is hurt we are. Or if our people are sick, so are we." Matthew explained. "Our land and people aren't affected if we aren't there."

"Are your brother and father also nations?" Junko asked and the Canadian nodded.

"Yeah, Alfred is America and Arthur is England." The nation said. He knew the nation names would mean nothing to the teens. It had been over half a year since he had heard from either of his family.

"And you are?" Stork asked from the wheel.

"I represent Canada." Matthew said.

"So, should we be calling you Canada or Matthew?" Junko asked for clarification.

"Well, Canada is more of a professional, business name. Matthew is for friends and family." The nation explained. "So Matthew is better."

"You're old." Finn said poking his arm teasingly. "You're like, ancient dude."

"I'm actually one of the youngest nations." Canada said. Finn raised an eyebrow looking skeptical. "China or Yao is probably the oldest. He's at least four or five thousand years old!"

"Holy crap." Finn sputtered. "He's probably seen some shit."

"We all have." The nation said eyes growing distant. "We've all had our fair share of wars over the years. None of them have lasted as long as yours though."

"How did those wars end?" Piper asked intrigued.

"We were able to overpower the other side and get them to surrender." Matthew shrugged. "We made treaties and everything after."

"So you killed people then?"' Fin asked out of know where.

"Well, yes. It's next to impossible to win a war without killing anybody." The nation said sadly.

Finn looked at Aerrow and raised an eyebrow. Canada knew that Aerrow was against killing and Finn was for it. He knew that they would fight about it every once in a while. Finn thought that if the Sky Knight would kill Dark Ace it would end the war. The storm Hawks didn't kill any of the talons; they would even save them if their parachute failed, but Matthew knew that they would only end up stranded in the wastelands.

"We don't kill Finn. Sky Knights and their squadrons don't either; it's not how we work." Aerrow said carefully not wanting to start anything.

"I know. I've heard that speech enough times." The blond teen said leaning back in his chair. "But, we're not an actual squadron so we don't need to follow those rules."

Suddenly the Condor took a turn. "Sorry. Flying felina." Stork called turning slightly from the wheel. "Need to go anywhere today?"

"No, we still have the basics. Just stay around the edges of the Atmos." Piper said getting up from the table. "We're lucky that Cyclonians haven't found us yet."

"It's been like two months right? Not a peep from the Cyclonians." Junko said with a sigh. "It's quiet."

"Don't jinx it buddy." Finn said hopping up from the table. "I'm going to go have a nap."

"Dude, you just got up!" Junko said following him out of the bridge. Piper laughed and left as well.

-❄"You a professional asshole or?"❄-

Three more months had passed and Matthew had lost track of how long he had been in the Atmos. He hadn't heard from his brother at all in that time. He had texted with Prussia once in a while, but he couldn't get a hold of England or America. Canada was a little bit worried, but brushed it off.

Aerrow had fully healed and was back into top shape. They had been still staying away from the Cyclonians for the most part, only going in to steal supplies, but the Sky Knight was itching to get back to business. He got his wish by the Condor flying to close to a mining colony.

"On your left Finn!" Piper called through the coms. She had two Cyclonians on her tail as well. The young woman was shooting backwards at them with her crystal staff.

"See em!" Finn shouted back firing at the pair with his cross bow.

Matthew rolled to the left to avoid the blaster fire from a trio of talons. His skimmer was fairly damaged and hard to control at the moment. His controls were sluggish and took a while to respond, but his guns were fine. Canada pulled a large loop and flew in between another group of Cyclonian skimmers. They watched confused as he flew through the centre of the group. The talons that were tailing him weren't as lucky. They slammed into their comrades causing all of their skimmers to be wrecked.

Canada looked over his shoulder seeing the destruction behind him and laughed. He hadn't noticed that someone had gotten close to him until he felt a thump on his wing.

**AN: Matthew has a terrible memory mostly because I have a terrible memory… Will be posting a short bonus fic thing for Dare Devil over on my Tumblr ( TallPoppy-Canada) later this week!**


	25. Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Five

The Canadian looked up to see the Dark Ace standing on his wing tip. Matthew frowned and pulled his controls to do a roll, but they wouldn't respond. _'Well shit.'_ He thought.

"Hello." The man said with a smirk. Canada continued to frown. He stood up and stepped onto the wing to be level with the Cyclonian. The Ace pulled his short sword and Matthew pulled his dagger.

Dark Ace jumped forward and attacked the nation. Matthew sidestepped, but the Ace was expecting this. He grabbed the blond by the collar and swiped. He cut across Canada's collar bone with his sword. The Canadian grunted and pushed the talon away from him.

"Payback." Dark ace laughed and attacked again. The blond didn't have time to take in the damage before he blocked the talon's attack. He used his height to his advantage and pushed Dark Ace back.

Matthew looped his foot behind the Cyclonians leg and tripped him. Dark Ace landed flat on his back and the blond pounced. He was to slow as the Dark Ace started to roll to his feet. He grabbed Canada by the hood and pulled him back. Matthew yelped falling onto his back. Dark Ace went to jump on top of him, but earned a kick to the gut instead. Canada climbed back to his feet at the same time Dark Ace was.

The pair stood and stared at each other, neither making a move. The Dark Ace suddenly spoke. "I have something you might want."

"And that would be?" The nation asked raising an eyebrow. He saw Aerrow in his peripheral vision. The Sky Knight was being swarmed by talons, but was holding his own.

"Oh, you can talk. Good, this makes things easier." The talon pulled a crystal out of his uniform. Matthew kept a neutral face, but on the inside he was freaking out. "You know what this is?" Canada nodded. "Good, you can have it if you join us."

"Really? Come on." He laughed. Dark Ace looked confused. "No thanks. I think I'll pass."

"That's it? No dilemma? No inner turmoil?" The Dark Ace asked waving the crystal around. "Do you not need this crystal?"

"I do need it, but not that bad." Matthew shrugged and winced at the pain in his collar. "You can keep it."

"Oh, well." Dark Ace cleared his throat. "In that case, you can have it." He said tossing the multicoloured crystal at him. Canada caught it and half expected it to burn him or explode, but it didn't. The Dark Ace turned and jumped back onto his own skimmer and flying away leaving a confused Matthew.

"What just happened?" He muttered to himself watching the talon fly off. Canada put the crystal in his pocket and sat back down on his skimmer. He looked around seeing the few remaining Cyclonians retreating. Matthew bit his lip after moving his neck and groaned. The cut was in a bad spot. It made moving his head painful. He used the sleeve of his hoodie and his forearm to put pressure on it. His controls had started to respond again, but they were still delayed.

-❄"I'm Mary Poppins y'all!"❄-

"Matthew! Are you okay?" Junko yelled running up to him as he landed, the other Storm Hawks not too far behind.

"I'm fine, it will heal." The nation said calmly. He reached into his pocket and took out the crystal. "Ace gave me this. I don't trust it."

"That's the dimensional discord crystal!" Piper gasped carefully taking the crystal from Canada. "You're bleeding a lot. You should look at that."

"It's okay." Canada said taking his hand away for a second. It looked like it was starting to scab over already. "It's not that deep."

"Still!" Aerrow said crossing his arms. He was worried for his friend.

"Really, it will heal in a day or two. Quick healing is a nation thing." Matthew explained. "I don't need to waist the supplies we have on me when it's not need."

"If you say so." The Sky Knight said eyebrows furrowed.

"I'll analyze this to see if it's real." Piper said putting the crystal in her satchel. She started off towards her workshop. "I'll let you know as soon as possible."

"Why did the Dark Ace have the crystal?" Fin wondered out loud. "He was the man in the coloured poncho?"

"Why would he get the crystal then the Cyclonians go back again after?" Junko pointed out.

"To trick us?" Aerrow suggested. "But why would they want to throw us off in the first place? How did they know we wanted that crystal?"

"Maybe they heard of us asking around?" Canada shrugged. "But Gundstaff said he gave it to poncho man months before we got there. So around the sameish time I wound up here."

"There's no way they could have known that." Finn said shaking his head. "How do they know now?"

"Maybe we're thinking about this too much. It could have been a coincidence." Junko shrugged.

"I doubt it. It's too perfect to just be a coincidence." Aerrow said crossing his arms. Radarr chirped in agreement from his shoulder. "They know something we don't."

-❄" The plan is to fan this spark into a flame."❄-

"It's the real deal." Piper said setting the discord crystal on the crate in front of Canada. The nation stopped what repairs he was doing on his skimmer and sat up. "I have no idea how to use or activate it."

"We could ask the Vapos people." Finn suggested popping up from behind his skimmer with a wrench in his hand. "Maybe they'll know."

"There's no real rush." Canada shrugged. "I'm not dying to go back right away."

"We can try a few different things before we ask. I'm just worried that it's a onetime use and we'll waste it." Piper said with a concerned face. "I'm going to look through my books and see if I can find anything as well."

"I'll help with that as soon as I'm done here." Matthew said and Piper nodded heading off. It would take some time to finish the repair. The control column was fried and needed a lot of wiring work done. He sighed and got back to work.

"Want some help with that?" Junko asked coming over and crouching down. Canada was currently working on the last few connections.

"Thanks, but I think I'm okay." Matthew said with a smile. "Just about done."

"Okay, I'm going to make some supper then. Want any?" The wallop asked.

Canada shook his head. "No thanks, I'm alright." The nation had made the bad decision to try some of Junko's food before. His stomach wasn't very happy with him for a few days after.

"Suit yourself, I'm going to make some juicy cave spiders siskababs!" Junko said walking off towards the kitchen.

It only took Matthew another half an hour to finish up the last few important repairs. The cosmetic ones could wait until later. He cleaned his tools then his hands before going to the kitchen. Junko had already been and gone judging by the mess. He grabbed a quick bite to eat before going to help Piper.

Matthew and Piper read until late at night, but found nothing. They were both getting tired and stopped for the night. Canada went to his room to grab a blanket before going to his spot by the window. It wasn't too often that he would actually sleep in his room.

**AN: Another longer chapter! I normally keep them right around 1k and try not to go to far over. Been trying to not worry about going over anymore, its not working to well…**


	26. Chapter Twenty Six

Chapter Twenty Six

Matthew had just settled down for the night when he thought it might be a good idea to call Alfred and Arthur. He pulled his phone from his pocket and turned it on, blinding himself in the process. He squinted with a groan and dialled the American.

"Hello? Mattie?" Alfred asked sounding groggy. "It's like 3 in the morning before you ask me if I'm drunk." He slurred tiredly.

Canada laughed. "That would have been my first question." He said with a smile. "We found the crystal. Well, we didn't find it, I was kinda just handed it."

"That's great!" Alfred said suddenly sounding wide awake. "You're back already then?"

"No, we don't know how to use it." The blond explained. "I'm in no rush to figure it out."

"What do you mean by that?" The American demanded.

"Well, I like it here. I miss my land and people, but I don't really have a desire to go back." Matthew said looking out the window seeing a passing terra. "Besides it's only been like what? Half a month there?"

"Yeah, but," Alfred trailed off. He sighed. "You need to come back."

"I will, eventually." Matthew promised.

"Like, why do you want to stay so bad? Did you get married and have kids when I wasn't looking?" America asked sounding almost serious.

"Yeah, I have six kids, five boys and a girl. All in a year." Canada said sarcastically. He heard Alfred laugh on the other end.

"Damn bro." He said through his laughs. "You've been having fun."

"But in all seriousness, I will come home. Just not for a while." Matthew said. "We don't know if this crystal is a onetime thing or if it will work more than once. We're not taking chances."

"Alright. In the meantime, the old man and I will keep trying to find a fix as well." Alfred said. "He's called Romania and Norway, but neither of them were any help. England refuses to call Scotland, so I might tomorrow."

"Okay." Canada said with a yawn. "Talk to you later Alfie."

"Night Mattie, be safe." Alfred said and hung up. Matthew looked at his phone for a second realizing how close it was to dying. He knew he had his solar charger in his bag, but it was too far for the lazy Canadian. He was surprised that his phone had lasted over a year in the Atmos on the same charge. He didn't really use it much though, accept to take the occasional photo, text Prussia or call America.

Canada curled up back against the window. He fell asleep quickly.

-❄"Sometimes I want to disappear."❄-

Almost two and a half years had passed and Canada was still happy to be in the Atmos. Not that he really had a choice though, they still hadn't figured out how to use the crystal and England and America hadn't found anything either. The Storm Hawks hadn't really tried too much in the past year, they were unable to find any information on it and the Terra Vapos people didn't know either.

Matthew had watched the teens grow quite a bit over the past couple of years. Aerrow had hit quite a growth spurt and was about a foot taller than Finn now. The blond teen wasn't too happy about that, but he didn't let it get to him too much. Finn had become very good with words, he had grown into his silver tongue. Junko and Stork hadn't changed too much. Piper had changed quite a bit. She had a lot more awkward questions to ask and Canada tried his best to explain. She had a little bit more trouble being the only female on the Condor.

The Storm Hawks were currently lazing around just coming off another supply run. Canada was sitting cross-legged reading a book in the hanger. He had just finished a few cosmetic repairs on his skimmer and didn't feel like moving from the quiet and empty hanger. Instead he sat on a crate to read.

"Hey, Mattie?" Aerrow asked catching his attention walking into the hanger. Canada looked up from the book his nose was in. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Matthew set his book down. "Sure, what's up?" He asked expecting an awkward question.

"Do you think Finn is right?" The Sky Knight asked running a hand through his hair. "Do you think we should be killing our enemies?"

"Don't compromise your morals because someone else has a different opinion." The nation said shaking his head.

Aerrow sat on a box across from him. "I'm getting tired of this. Fighting Dark Ace all the time is getting annoying. Maybe killing him will end the war?"

"Killing a single person won't end a whole war. Especially one that has been going on for generations, it's going to take a lot of work." Matthew said with a frown. "People's hatred of one side or another is deep rooted and it will take time for them to come around."

"Do you think it'll ever end?" The red head asked eyes wary. "I never want to stop helping people, but it's getting hard."

"Yes, somethings gotta give eventually." Canada said. "Resources could run out or people could just forget about it."

"Forget?" Aerrow asked raising an eyebrow.

The nation nodded. "You never know." He said. "We had wars that went on for years, but eventually everything just stopped. They're still going on technically because there was no treaty signed."

"Example?" The Sky Knight asked cracking a small smile. It seemed outrageous to him.

"Japan and Russia. World War II ended in 1945, but no treaty was signed between them. So it is still going on over seventy years later." Matthew said with a shrug. "Or I'm technically at war with Denmark in a way. There's this little unclaimed island in the ocean that our people visit every once and a while. We leave a flag and whisky they take our flag and leave their own with a bottle of schnapps. We go back and the cycle repeats."

"Wow." Aerrow said in between laughs. Matthew was happy he could lighten the mood a little. "That's ridiculous!"

"Yeah I know, but it's funny." The blond smiled. "Either way, do what you think is right. Everything will work out eventually."

"Yeah, I sure hope so." Aerrow said with a sigh. "When are you going to make pancakes again? I want some with chipped chocolate."

"I still can't believe you guys call them chipped chocolate and not chocolate chips." Canada said shaking his head. "It just sounds bad."

"Chipped chocolate sounds better." The sky knight rolled his eyes.

"Maybe I'll make some for supper. That's in an hour or two." Matthew said. He was really craving kraft dinner though. Aerrow smiled excitedly bouncing slightly on his box.

"I'm always hungry." The red head said rubbing his stomach.

"You know, you're at that age where your body..." Matthew started with a smirk.

"Nope, not happening." Aerrow said jumping off the crate and grabbing Matthews's book before running off. Canada chased after him yelling random puberty facts. "Why do you know this stuff?" The sky knight asked over his shoulder as he ran.

"I had to deal with it for like fifty years!" Matthew yelled gaining a little bit of ground on the teen. He was using his longer legs to his advantage. Aerrow ran down a hall before realizing it was a dead end. "Give my book back and we'll have no problems."

"Fine." The sky knight sighed handing the book back. "When are you going to start making food? I'm starving." He whinned clearly trying to annoy the Canadian.

"In like an hour." Matthew said looking at his non-existent watch. "Maybe two."

The pair started to walk back towards the bridge and as soon as they entered a distress call came in. Aerrow sighed as Stork answered it. The other Storm Hawks came rushing in from all over the Condor.

"It's the Rex guardians." Stork said. "We're in the area. About ten minutes away."

"Right, set a course." Aerrow commanded. "Any other information?"

"Not much, Snipe and Ravess are there, no word on exactly how many Cyclonians or if Dark Ace is there." Stork said explaining what he heard. "We'll be there in less than five minutes now."

"My skimmer is still down." Junko said.

"You can borrow my Storkmobile." The merk said over his shoulder. "You better not get a scratch or I'll release a tickle spider in your room."

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass." Junko said nervously. "I'll man a cannon."

"Okay, suit yourself." Stork shrugged flying the Condor closer to Terra Rex. Canada could see a few skimmers in the distance.

"Let's get to it then!" Aerrow said starting down to the hanger.


	27. Chapter Twenty Seven

Chapter Twenty Seven

Canada revved his skimmer and sped down the run way. Finn and Aerrow weren't too far ahead of him and Piper was right at his side. He could see the Rex guardians among the Cyclonians. They were not doing so well against the talons.

The Storm Hawks got closer and split up. Matthew spotted a group of four Cyclonians that were getting close to the ground and shooting at the people. Canada dived down to follow them. Piper had spotted the same group and joined the nation. He started to shoot at the ones on the left and Piper shot the ones on the right. The group of talons broke off into pairs. Matthew and Piper split up, each following a pair.

The nation hit one of the Cyclonians engines and he veered into his partner. Both of them jumped off the wrecked skimmers and opened their shoots. Canada flew back up higher into the sky to pick his next target. He heard a whizzing noise and rolled until he was upside down. He heard a 'thunk' and felt the impact on the belly of his skimmer. He peaked over the edge of his skimmer and looked up to see Ravess aiming at him again.

Matthew saw the arrow leave her bow and reacted quickly. He was already safe, but he didn't want any more damage on his skimmer. He turned tightly to the left still upside down and saw the arrow whizz by. He turned right side up and saw Ravess reloading with a smirk. Finn flew past her catching her attention. She tracked his movement and let the arrow fly. She didn't lead the shot enough and it didn't come near to the teen.

The Canadian turned his attention back to find his next target leaving Ravess to Finn. Snipe was busy trying to get close to the Condor and Junko. Aerrow and Piper were keeping the talons away from Terra and the Rex Guardians were doing the same. Matthew spotted a squad of four Cyclonians going after a guardian.

Canada dived down and positioned himself behind the talons. He started to shoot at them and the two on the ends broke away. Matthew didn't bother following them; he was more concerned with getting the talons off the Rex Guardian's tail. He managed to shoot one of the talons engines and he lost altitude. The last Cyclonian dived down and helped his buddy onto his skimmer and started to retreat. The Rex Guardian gave him a thumbs up and smiled before flying away.

Matthew noticed that a pair of Cyclonians came up behind him. They started to fire at him and he ducked down on his skimmer to keep a low profile. He rolled to the right and the talons followed him. Canada faked going left and pulled a quick loop and the talons didn't react quickly enough before he was behind them. He started to fire at the pair.

The talon on the left broke away spotting a Rex Guardian. Canada followed the other one hoping that the guardians could take care of themselves. He shot at the talon and followed him as the Cyclonian tried to lose him. Matthew followed him closely and copied his every move. He finally managed to get a good angle and hit the talons wing. A few metal pieces flew off before the rest of the wing flew off as well.

The Canadian dipped his wing and flew away from the falling skimmer. He looked around again trying to see if anyone needed help. Suddenly he heard a scream and quickly turned to the sound.

Matthew spotted Ravess not too far away. She was standing facing away from him bow raised pointing at a target he couldn't see. The nation started to panic thinking she had hit one of the Storm Hawks, but just as the thought went through his mind, Ravess lowered her bow. The arrow hadn't left her bow and it looked like she was trying hard to aim again. The pink haired woman dropped her bow and collapsed on her skimmer. She must have fallen onto the controls and her skimmer rolled. She fell off her skimmer and started to fall into the wastelands.

The battle had almost seem to pause seeing this. Snipe yelled diving down to try to catch his falling sister. The nation could now see that she had an arrow in her chest. He looked back over to where Finn was. He was just lowering his crossbow, a neutral expression on his face. Matthew immediately pieced together what had happened in his head.

"Retreat!" Snipe called with his sister in his arms. "Let's get the hell out of here!"

-❄"This screw never asked to be a mascara wand."❄-

As they landed back on the Condor, things were tense. Canada could tell that Aerrow was angry. The red head was normally able to keep his cool, but he was steaming. They pulled into the hanger and got off their skimmers. Finn's body language made him seem a little nervous, but he still kept a neutral face.

"Aerrow." Junko warned seeing the Sky Knight moving in Finn's direction.

"Do you know what you just did?" Aerrow ask slowly in a calm tone.

"Yeah, I killed Ravess. I killed a Cyclonian, something we should have been doing from the start!" Finn argued crossing his arms.

"Finn, you can't do something like that!" Aerrow yelled angrily.

"Why not? It's my choice. You expect to win a war without killing anyone?!" Finn yelled back. The other Storm Hawks just stood and watched.

"You don't understand, do you?!" The Sky Knight growled pinching his nose.

"Don't understand? You've got to be kidding me!" The blond said clenching his teeth and rolling his eyes. "I'm doing something that could finally end this war! Something you're too scared to do!"

Aerrow bit his lip and stepped back. He was hurt by Finn's words, but was still angry. He walked away and hopped onto his skimmer. "I need to cool off." He said starting the bike and taking off. Radarr chirped and ran after him, but he was already gone.

"Finn," Piper said speaking up first. "You don't get it do you?"

"Not you too Piper!" Finn groaned. "You're on his side?"

"I'm on no one's side." Piper shook her head. "Finn, what you just did could get him into serious trouble."

"What?" He asked body language changing to concern.

"Anything a squad member does falls back onto the Sky Knight. Aerrow could get into a lot of trouble for this." Piper explained. "The code is 'no attacking with the intent of killing.' Yes, we aren't technically an official squadron, but Aerrow is a Sky Knight and we are his squad."

"I didn't know that." Finn admitted looking down at the floor. "I didn't know that it could affect anyone else." He said scratching the back of his neck. "I need to apologize."

"I don't think apologizing will help right now." Junko said. "Maybe we should let him calm down and come back on his own?"

"He can take care of himself." Piper said. "I'm still worried though. There could still be some talons lurking around."

"What about the coms?" Matthew asked speaking up. He knew it wasn't a good idea for the red head to be out on his own. Junko tried to call, but shook his head. Matthew bit his lip. "I'll go and look for him. It's getting dark and it's probably not good for him to be out all night."

"Okay, keep in contact. We'll stay in the area." Piper said as Canada climbed onto his skimmer. He started it up and revved the engine before taking off.

Once he was in the air, Matthew didn't know how to find Aerrow. He scanned the clouds looking for any sign of the Sky Knight. He spotted a few small forested terras poking out of the clouds. He flew closer and looked through the trees. Canada saw a flash of sunlight reflecting off of metal on one of the smallest terras. He dived down to get a closer look and saw Aerrow's skimmer parked in a tree.

The nation found a clearing and landed riding in the direction his saw the skimmer. He was happy the forest floor didn't have too much undergrowth. He saw a flash of red hair through the trees and turned pulling up to a tree. Aerrow was lying on his back on one of the lower branches and his skimmer was on one of the higher branches.

"How do you even?" Matthew asked motioning up to the Sky Knights skimmer as he got off his own.

"Magic." Aerrow said sitting up and letting his feet hang over the branch.

"Cooled off?" The nation asked crossing his arms and looking up.


	28. Chapter Twenty Eight

Chapter Twenty Eight

"Cooled off?" Canada asked crossing his arms and looking up.

Aerrow sighed. "Yeah, mostly. I'm still a little bit annoyed." He mumbled hopping off the branch and landing in a crouch. He sat down cross-legged leaning against the tree. Matthew went over and sat down next to him.

"Piper told him what could happen to you and he changed his tune right away." The Canadian said.

"Really?" The Sky Knight asked in disbelief.

"You didn't think he would care?" Matthew raised an eyebrow. Aerrow pursed his lips and nodded. "Finn wanted to find you right away to apologize."

"Apologizing won't bring her back. I didn't think he would ever do something like that." The red head admitted. "There wasn't any remorse. Maybe it hasn't hit him yet, but still. He just severely injured and most likely killed a person."

"I highly doubt that she survived. Not unless Snipe had a healing crystal on him and used it right there." Canada said shaking his head. "I don't think Finn has really realized what he did. He thinks that what he did will help."

"I don't think killing anyone will help." Aerrow said with a sigh. "The code says that we don't attack with the intent to kill. It was how I was raised. I don't want to go against that."

"You don't have to." Matthew said looking up at the tree as the leaves blew.

"I know and I'm not going to." The Sky Knight said looking up at the tree branches. "Finn doesn't have to agree with me, but he does need to follow the law. He's like a brother; I don't want to see him get punished, but I won't be taking the fall for him."

Canada nodded knowing that Aerrow needed to vent. "You shouldn't have to."

"It's selfish, but I'm not going to be punished for something I didn't do." The Sky Knight sighed. "We might not even be 'coded.'" He did air quotes around coded. "We're not a registered squadron, so we don't technically fall under their laws, but we were assisting a registered squad."

"It's 50/50 then, eh?" The nation said and Aerrow nodded. "Hope for the best then."

"Not sure if it's better to not get in trouble or actually gets in trouble for it." The red head grumble. "Maybe if Finn got into a little bit of trouble then he won't do it again."

"I doubt that Finn's going to do that again." Canada shook his head. "I think the fact that his actions could affect you scared him."

"I hope so." Aerrow said pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked Matthew in the eyes. "You've killed people before, right? Why?"

"Yeah, I have." Canada said biting his lip and looking down. "I've never killed someone outside of a war or bad situation. Of course that doesn't justify my actions in any way, but if it was an enemy or my friend's life I would stop at nothing to save my friend."

"If there was no other way around it, then I might consider it. I'd still try to find another way." The red head said after a minute of silence. "I left Radarr behind. We should probably start heading back. It's almost dark." Aerrow said with a yawn. Matthew stood up and offered Aerrow a hand. The sky knight took it and Canada pulled him up. "Let's get out of here."

"Oh, I don't think so." Someone said from behind them. Aerrow and Matthew whipped around drawing their weapons. The Dark Ace stood with his sword drawn and a smirk on his face. Talons started to step out of the forest surrounding them. "Surrender and we won't hurt you too much." He growled.

"Really?" The pair asked in unison. Distaste and annoyance in their voices. Dark Ace shrugged and waved his hand for his talons to attack. A few of the talons stepped forward that were wielding staffs. Aerrow immediately jumped at one as Canada threw a knife at another. The nation lunged forward and grabbed the knife back from where it had lodged into the Cyclonians arm. The man had dropped his staff and scrambled back into the forest.

Matthew turned back around and blocked a staff with his dagger. He had just enough time to react. He grabbed the staff with his free hand and yanked it out of the Cyclonians. The Canadian threw it on the ground and took a swipe at the talon. His dagger cut through the man's shoulder armour and burned his skin. One of the other Cyclonians stepped into defend her comrade. The woman threw her staff in the ground and pulled a sword she had at her hip.

Dark Ace laughed seeing this. He still hadn't stepped into the fight yet. He ordered another talon into replace the other. He seemed to only be sending in one at a time to ware down the pair. The man had just ordered the next batch of talons into the battle. Canada blocked the woman's first attack and pushed the blade to the side. He used his free hand to fake a punch before bringing his elbow back. His elbow connected with the talons jaw and she was stunned for a second. Matthew took the opportunity and disarmed her before hooking a leg behind hers and pulling. She fell flat on her back and didn't make a move to get up.

Matthew saw a Cyclonian with a small knife creeping up behind an occupied Aerrow. He quickly took out a throwing knife and threw it at the man. It lodged into the back of his knee joint and he fell to the ground with a scream. The sky knight didn't even flinch at the noise and continued to fight the Talon he was busy with. He knocked his out and Dark Ace finally stepped into the fight.

Canada spun around hearing movement behind him. He threw up his dagger just in time to slow the talons sword. He wasn't fast enough to completely stop the swipe. The blade cut into his arm just below the nation's wrist that was holding the dagger. He grunted and fought through the pain to keep a hold of his knife. Matthew used his height advantage and pushed the talon back. He switched the dagger into his opposite hand letting his injured one rest and started to heal.

The Canadian readied for the talons next strike. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Aerrow and Dark Ace fighting. Matthew could tell that the Sky Knight was starting to ware down. The Cyclonian didn't attack. He started to side step and Canada matched his steps. They danced around for a while before the finally talon attacked. He went low and the nation jumped backwards out of the way. He kicked the man in the chest. The Cyclonian stumbled back and dropped his sword. Matthew grabbed the talon by the collar and threw him head first into a tree.

Canada took a second to assess the damage to his arm. The cut hadn't bled too much, but it was fairly deep. The edges were burned from the hot crystal blade. It was aching and every time he moved it shots of pain went up his arm. The nation winced and bit his lip.

Matthew didn't notice a talon creeping up on him until it was too late. The Cyclonian used his crystal staff to shoot a blast of hot energy at his back. The Canadian yelped feeling the bolt burn the skin on the back of his shoulder. He turned around to face his attacker and was tackled to the ground. His dagger flew from his hand and skidded across the forest floor.

**AN: I always have to read the chapters before I post them. I forget what happens. This was written like a year ago now probably.**


	29. Chapter Twenty Nine

Chapter Twenty Nine

Matthew didn't notice a talon creeping up on him until it was too late. The Cyclonian used his crystal staff to shoot a blast of hot energy at his back. The Canadian yelped feeling the bolt burn the skin on the back of his shoulder. He turned around to face his attacker and was tackled to the ground. His dagger flew from his hand and skidded across the forest floor.

The nation landed flat on his back with the man on top of him. The talon pushed his staff against Canada's throat cutting off his air supply. He grunted and grabbed the talons staff with both of his hands and pushed back. He managed to get the bar off his throat enough to breathe, but his wrist and shoulder burned hot with pain. He fought through the pain and hoped his arm wouldn't give out. Matthew used his uninjured arm to push as hard as he could in one direction. He used his legs to unbalance the talon and switch their positions.

"Stop!" Dark Ace yelled gaining the Canadians attention. He immediately stopped and got off the Cyclonian seeing that the commander had Aerrow. The red head was struggling against Dark Ace's grip, but couldn't get away. The Dark Ace rolled his eyes at the struggling teen and put his short sword to Aerrow's throat. The talon he had pinned rolled onto his feet and stepped out of Canada's sight. "Drop all the weapons you have." Dark Ace commanded.

Matthew took a second to comply. He hoped to find an opening, but the way Ace had the Sky Knight made it next to impossible to get a clear throw. He slowly reached into his pockets and dropped the remaining knives he had.

"That's everything." Canada said calmly dropping the last knife on the ground in front of him. He kept his hands in view of both the Dark Ace and the other talon.

"Mattie, get out of here!" Aerrow pleaded struggling harder, clawing at Dark Aces arm. His eyes darted towards Canada's skimmer and back to the nation telling him to run for it. The Ace brought the hot blade closer to the red heads throat. "Go!"

The Canadian shook his head. There was no way that he was going to leave the Sky Knight alone in this. He also knew that he most likely wouldn't make it to his skimmer before being shot by the talon again. Dark Ace sneered and signalled the Cyclonian to move. The talon grabbed Matthews's arms and quickly cuffed them behind his back. The hand-cuffs were tight and bit into his wrists further irritating the cut. Canada could feel blood trickling down his arm into his hand.

The Cyclonian grabbed his shoulder and roughly forced Matthew onto his knees. He gasped and groaned biting his lip feeling the man's fingers press into the burned skin. Dark Ace did the same to Aerrow; tying his hands, taking his weapons and glider before forcing him to his knees. Canada looked the teen up and down trying to see if he was injured. He couldn't see any cuts, but the Sky Knight was breathing heavy and his eyes were half closed. Matthew was worried about internal damage.

"We could just execute you now, but Master Cyclonis would enjoy having a hand in your deaths." Dark Ace said with a smirk.

"Let us go." Aerrow demanded angrily staring at his enemy.

"And why would I do that?" The commander asked crouching down in front of the red head. Aerrow looked down, but Dark Ace grabbed his hair and forced him to look at him. "Are you really that naive?"

Dark Ace laughed and let go of the Sky Knight when he didn't get a response. He grabbed Aerrow by the back of his shirt and picked him up to his feet. The red head shrugged and tried to get away, but Dark Ace hit him on the back of the head knocking him unconscious.

Matthew growled seeing this and tried to get to his feet. The talon grabbed his burned shoulder and kept him on his knees. Canada shrugged trying to get the Cyclonians hand off, but it only caused him to hold on tighter. The talons nails dug into the burned skin drawing blood.

"Put him down too." The Dark Ace commanded. It was the last thing the nation heard before the world went dark.

-❄"Never trust anyone. Remember, the devil was once an angel."❄-

"Where are they?" Piper asked no one in particular looking out the window of the Condor.

"Have you tried calling them again?" Junko asked tapping his foot nervously.

"Yes I have. Nothing, but static." The woman said crossing her arms and turning to where Finn and Junko were sitting.

"The static is probably just pricefield yodel birds." Stork said with a shrug. "They emit a signal blocker in their songs. They're known for living around this area."

"I'm still worried though. It's been hours and it's the middle of the night!" Piper sighed sitting down at the round table. "Were there any Cyclonian sightings in this area?"

"None that were radioed in." Finn said. "They're probably fine Piper. Maybe just a sleep out?"

"They would have made contact to say that. Even if Aerrow was still angry, Matthew would have." Piper said. "It's not like either one to do something like this."

"There's nothing we can do right now." Junko said. "It wouldn't be safe to go out at night."

"I agree with Junko." Stork said. "Nightcrawers could be out or phanflyers. Oh! Or maybe holofae, but they're more around at sunrise."

"You're right guys. Let's get a good night's sleep and hope they're back in the morning." Piper said running a hand through her hair. "If not, we'll go looking for them."

-❄"Safety and peace, Malik." "Your presence deprives me of both."❄-

Matthew groaned as he finally came to. His head pounded as he slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a very small cell with iron bars and rock walls and floor. A small bit of light flooded in from a light in the hallway. He spotted Aerrow curled up in the cell across from him still unconscious.

Canada sat up and pressed his back against the cool wall keeping his head down. It soothed his shoulder slightly and he sighed. The talons had moved his hands in front of him at one point, but the cuffs were still painfully tight. He bit his lip as the handcuffs dug into the skin of his wrists. The cut on his arm had stopped bleeding, but his arm was caked with dried blood. Both of the injuries still ached and throbbed.

The Canadian tensed and looked up as he heard footsteps coming their way.

**AN: The coyotes are loud tonight. Holy cow!**


	30. Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

**AN: This is the most chapters I've had in a fanfic before! The old 'record' was twenty six from Alpha!**

The Canadian tensed and looked up as he heard footsteps coming their way. As they got closer, Aerrow started to stir. The Sky Knights eyes fluttered open and he sat up quickly. He winced and put his head in his hands from the head rush. He looked up again once it passed spotting Matthew across from him.

"Are you okay?" Canada asked looking the teen up and down. He still didn't see any visible injuries.

Aerrow nodded slowly. "Just a few bruises, I'll be okay." He said voice still ruff from sleep. "That looks bad. Can you heal from that?" He asked gesturing to the nations arm.

"Yes, unless it gets infected. Then I might have problems." Matthew said. The cut looked fairly clean and he couldn't see the burn to check. Pressing his back against the wall might have not been the best idea to keep the burn clean, but it soothed some of his pain. The red head nodded brows still furrowed with concern.

The footsteps had disappeared seeming to have gone somewhere else. Must have just been a guard patrol. Aerrow rolled onto his feet. He stumbled catching himself on one of the cell walls. He wasn't used to having his hands cuffed. The red head walked up to the bars and peaked out down the hall.

"We're in cells, inside a cell." Aerrow said with a sigh. He inspected the locks. "And there's a pad lock on the combination locks."

"That seems like overkill." Matthew said. He would have got up and looked for himself, but he felt a bit weak and dizzy from blood loss. He didn't quite trust himself to stand just yet.

"No kidding." Aerrow said grabbing the bars and pulling them lightly. Canada raised an eyebrow at that and the Sky Knight shook his head with a smile. "Worth a shot."

"Wonder what time it is? How long were we out?" The nation said thinking out loud. Aerrow shrugged. "Can't see the sun and there is no clock so it's impossible to tell."

"Hopefully the others notice somethings up." The red head said sitting back down with his back resting on the wall.

"I told them that I would keep in contact." Matthew said stretching his back. He heard a few cracks and winced. "They'll notice."

"I hope so." Aerrow said with a small smile. He pulled his legs up to his chest. "It's cold in here."

Canada raised an eyebrow. "Is it? I don't really notice the cold."

"Nation thing?" The Sky Knight asked.

"Yeah, well northern nation thing." Matthew sighed resting his head on his good arm. He was happy that both of his injuries were on one side, but wasn't happy that they were on his more dominant side.

They stayed quiet for quite a while before they could hear footsteps coming their way again. Aerrow stood up peeking out of the bars trying to spot the guards through the other cell door.

"It's Dark Ace and a pair of guards." The red head whispered. "They're coming our way."

The nation slowly climbed to his feet stumbling slightly and blinking spots from his vision. He could hear clanking at the door as a duo of talons entered followed by the Dark Ace.

"Good. You're both awake." The man said with a smile. He motioned to the guards to open the cells. The Cyclonians started on the locks. "Don't bother trying anything." He snapped.

The cell doors swung open in sync and the talons grabbed Matthew and Aerrow pulling them out and pushing them towards the hall. The Sky Knight stumbled and almost fell as Canada gave the guards a dirty look. More talons surrounded them as they were pushed out into the hall. They really weren't taking any chances with their prisoners.

The pair was escorted down many winding halls before being lead into Master Cyclonis's throne room. She was facing away from them looking out the window at a distant lightning storm. As the door closed the talons spread out around the room leaving Aerrow and Matthew in the centre.

Dark Ace walked in front of them and cleared his throat. "Master Cyclonis." He said bowing slightly. The woman, about Aerrow's age with shoulder length straight dark purple hair and eyes, turned around to face them. She started past her throne and walked down the few stairs in front of it. Her cloak billowing behind her as she walked.

"Dark Ace, congratulations on finally managing to capture two Storm Hawks." Cyclonis said with a fake smile. The Dark Ace looked annoyed at being mocked. "I've met you before," she said glaring at Aerrow. "But you are new." She mumbled staring curiously at Canada. "I've heard about you from my talons. Just showing up one day with the Storm Hawks. You had been looking for the discord crystal, perhaps you're not from the Atmos?"

"Why haven't you used the crystal yet? It's been years." Dark Ace asked. Both Canada and Aerrow were keeping quiet.

"Not able to figure it out either?" Cyclonis asked with a small pouty face that morphed into a creepy sneer. "Piper might not be as smart as we expected."

"She's better than you." Aerrow snapped.

"Speaking of Piper," The woman said whipping out a crystal staff from out of her cloak. She pointed it at the Canadians chest. "Where are the other Storm Hawks?" She hissed.

"I don't know." The Sky Knight said quickly. The crystal at the end of the staff started to glow slightly as it heated up. "Really, I don't. Please don't hurt him."

"Hurt? I don't intend on just hurting him." The purple haired woman said in a flat tone. Matthew looked at Aerrow out if the corner of his eye and subtly shook his head. "Besides, he looks like he could take the pain. You on the other hand." She moved her spear so it was now pointed at Aerrow. "Where are they?!" She demanded.

"I don't know!" The red head growled.

"They're by Terra Edmontonia." Canada said quickly making up a lie. Cyclonis turned to him. "The Condor took a few hits and needed some repairs."

"Where any of them injured?" The purple eyed woman asked staff still pointed at Aerrow.

The nation shook his head. "Nothing major."

"And their sky rides?" Cyclonis asked looking pleased.

"Damaged, but functional." Matthew grumbled.

"Good." Cyclonis purred. "Dark Ace set a course along with Snipe. Bring them in dead or alive." Dark Ace nodded and turned on his heal. "And for your honesty Storm Hawks, your deaths will be delayed until tomorrow."

**AN: Happy Canada Day and Independence Day! Just posted the first part of a new fic, it's 'Isolation.' Dis is the summary~**

Stolen at a young age, Canada has been through it all, human trafficking, drugs and prostitution. When he finally gets away he has no idea how to find his family again. Homeless and with an approaching cold winter a kind man takes him in and shows him how to make it in the world, but it's not exactly legal either.

**Its on my Fanfiction, Wattpad and AO3 if you're interested in reading!**


	31. Chapter Thirty One

Chapter Thirty One

"How are you so calm under pressure?" Aerrow asked once they were back in their cells. One of the talons had thrown a few bandages at the Canadian as they left.

"Hmmm?" Matthew asked absentmindedly as he finished wrapping his cut. It was a little awkward to do with hand cuffs on.

"You came up with that so quickly! Do you even know where Edmontonia is?" The Sky Knight asked quietly.

"Not really, I know the general area. Opposite side of the Atmos to where they should be." Matthew sighed. "I had to say something, she would have killed you."

"Well, I'm glad you did. They'll be on a wild esoog chase." Aerrow said with a smile. He stood up and walked over to the bars. "Now, how are we going to get out of here?"

Canada rolled onto his feet and inspected the locks. He had never picked a lock before, but he had broken a few. The first lock was just a normal turn combination lock and the second required a key. Matthew bit his lip, there was no way he would be able to break them. If he had the proper tools the nation could have wedged the door off its hinges.

"Oh my god, turn over the combination lock." The Sky Knight said smile in his voice. Canada was confused, but did what was suggested and wanted to face palm. The combination and turn pattern was written on the back of the lock.

"Dumbasses." Matthew muttered under his breath with a laugh. He started to input the number and it took him a few tries to get it right since he was looking at it upside down.

"What about the other lock? We don't have the keys." Aerrow said as he unlocked the first lock.

"I can't break that one. It's too sturdy." Canada said shaking his head. "Even if we get out of these cells, what about the other door?"

"You're right. Our best chance might be in the morning." The red head said clipping the lock back on. "Maybe Piper has gotten a hold of Starling. She could help us."

"Starling?" Canada asked. He had talked with her a few times over the last few years. "How could she help?"

"Starling's gone undercover in Cyclonia multiple times. She's helped me out before, a few months before you got here." The Sky Knight explained. "She hasn't in a while, but never a better time to start again, eh?"

Canada nodded sitting back down after clipping the lock back on. He found it funny that the Storm Hawks had picked up some of his expressions and he'd picked up a few of theirs.

The pair sat quietly for a while. Talons came and went peaking in and leaving to go along their routes. Matthew had a little bit of a nap while Aerrow paced back and forth. The teen was trying to shake the cold. Canada woke up less than an hour later and stretched.

"You snore like an old man." The red head said seeing Matthew awake.

"Well that would make sense since I am an old man." The nation grumbled tiredly rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Aerrow just laughed.

"How's that cut?" The Sky Knight asked.

Matthew shrugged and unwrapped the bandages to look. "It doesn't look infected, but it's healing slowly. Probably because of the burn."

"How's that doing?" Aerrow asked concerned.

"Not sure, can't see it." Canada said rolling and moving the shoulder. Aerrow raised an eyebrow. "Little bit stiff, but not too bad. It's probably mostly healed." He would have moved to ask the teen how it looked, but was too lazy to move.

Matthew rewrapped his wrist and yawned. He really wanted to sleep again. His body was telling him to go back to sleep. It would help his wounds heal quicker, but he wanted to stay awake just in case the talons tried anything.

Canada was just about to close his eyes and listen to his surroundings when there was a bright flash. He squinted and gasped suddenly seeing a person standing in front of him. The nation yelped quickly climbed to his feet.

"Hello!" The man said smiling and waving from under his cowl. He had purple hair and eyebrows with purple eyes as well. He wore a blue and violet cloak with red and gold accents on his chest. He also carried a crystal staff. "Long time no see!" The man said then blinked turning around. "Oh wait, I don't know you." He gestured towards Canada. "I know you!" He laughed nervously pointing at Aerrow.

"Arygyn! What are you doing here?" The Sky Knight asked quietly hopping closer to the bars.

"I'm here to get you and I guess him, out of here. Sorry I took so long, I was having a nap." The man, Arygyn said with a smile. He teleported in between the bars and reappeared between the two cells. "Oh, let me get those off you." The man said noticing the hand cuffs in the pair and waving his staff. Canada rubbed his wrist lightly and tightened his bandages better. "Who are you by the way?" Arygyn asked leaning towards the bars of Canada's cell.

"I'm Matthew." The nation said raising an eyebrow. He didn't trust this man. "Where do you know this guy from?" He asked Aerrow.

"He 'trained' us." The red head said using air quotes.

"Well, it worked didn't it!" The purple haired man said loudly with a smile. Suddenly he was gone again and there was a loud bagging on the door.

"Quiet down!" A talon yelled annoyed before turning on his heel and leaving.

Arygyn teleported back biting his lip and smiling shyly. "That was a close one." He whispered straining his neck to look out of the barred cell window. "Now, let's get out of here." The man said waving his staff.

Canada winced feeling dizzy and like he was falling. He felt like puking, but after almost two days without food dry heaving was the best he could do. Suddenly, he was on solid ground flat on his back. His world was still spinning. Matthew rolled onto his stomach and pressed his forehead with his eyes closed to the cool floor.

"I think I'm going to puke." Aerrow muttered beside him clearly in the same state.

"I guess I should have warned you guys." Arygyn said crouching down next to the pair. The Canadian opened one eye and gave him a dirty look. "Sorry." He shrugged innocently.

Matthew rolled over and sat up slowly realizing they were back on the Condor. He sighed looking over to Aerrow who was still lying in his back with an arm over his eyes.

"Aerrow?! Matthew?!" Piper yelled rounding the corner of the hallway they ended up in.

"Arygyn?" Finn asked popping out from behind the corner. Junko, Radarr and Stork weren't too far behind.

"Piper, please, too loud." Aerrow groaned.

**AN: Lil bit of a problem, well not actually a problem, but anyways I have completely finished writing another fic on top of the three I'm already currently posting. I'm not really sure when to start posting it.**


	32. Chapter Thirty Two

Chapter Thirty Two

"Piper, please, too loud." Aerrow groaned.

Piper completely ignored the Sky Knight. "What happened to you guys? We found your skimmers and weapons, but not you. We were so worried!"

"Dark Ace showed up." Canada said. The red head groaned sitting up slowly and rubbing his temples. "We were surrounded and outnumbered."

"They took you back to Cyclonia?" Junko asked. Aerrow and Matthew nodded. The nation climbed to his feet and offered a hand to Aerrow. The red head took it and Canada pulled him up with his good arm. Radarr ran up to his best friend and climbed onto his shoulder.

"You guys are okay?" Aerrow asked worriedly.

"You're worried about us, dude?" Finn asked with a small smile. "We're fine, worried about you guys more than anything."

"Arygyn, how did you find them?" Stork asked crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"I have my ways." The purple haired man shrugged. "Anyways, I have business to attend to on Terra Neon."

"Wait," Piper called and Arygyn paused. "Do you know anything about the dimensional discord crystal?" Arygyn just shrugged with a smirk before disappearing. "Guess not."

"Can we have pancakes now?" Aerrow asked. "I'm starving."

"Yeah, just let me change." Canada said and the Sky Knight bounced excitedly. "And change these too." He gestured to his arm. Aerrow nodded and started to head to the kitchen Radarr still on his shoulder.

Matthew started to walk to his room. Piper followed him. "Hey, Mattie!" The amber eyed woman called. Canada paused and waited for her to catch up. "Your phone was yelling quite a bit earlier."

"I'll check that." The nation said with a smile. He had forgotten that he left it charging in the window.

"We left your weapons in your room. Oh! And your skimmer is in the hanger." Piper said. "We couldn't fit that into your room obviously."

"You could have glued it to the ceiling." Matthew suggested sarcastically. Piper smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Glue would rip the tiles off. Bungee cords hooked onto the rafters would be easier to get down and cause less damage." Piper said with a sarcastic smirk.

"Or, to be more cost effective, we could just leave it in the hanger." Canada said with a shrug.

"Very true. We'll go with that then." Piper nodded with a laugh. "With all the money we save, we can actually buy you some new clothes." She teased.

"It's been like three years. I'm surprised they've lasted this long. Few holes here and there, and patched too." Matthew said. "This one's going to need a pretty big patch."

"That's a bit of an understatement." Piper muttered shaking her head. "What exactly happened to you guys?"

Matthew started to explain what happened as they walked to his room. He got about half way through before they got to his room. Canada quickly changed his sweater and grabbed his phone. He continued the story as the pair started towards the medical room. Piper asked questions here and there as they walked.

"There really was no way for you guys to get out of there, huh?" Piper sighed shaking her head. "What would you have done if Arygyn hadn't shown up?"

"We discussed trying to get away in the morning when the talons came." Matthew said with a shrug. "We didn't have any solid plans. Just going to roll with it."

"You were in a life or death situation and you were going to 'roll with it?'" She asked in disbelief. The nation nodded as they entered the med bay. "You're crazy." Piper mumbled watching Canada clean and properly dress his cut. "Is your wrist and shoulder okay? They look pretty bad."

"The burn is mostly healed. It still sore though. The cut will take longer to heal; it's more serious because it is deeper. It will take a lot of sleep if I want to heal quickly." Matthew said as he finished wrapping the cut. "I lost quite a bit of blood too. It should have been stitched earlier, but I didn't exactly have the supplies."

"You're not going to do it now?" Piper asked following him out of the room.

Canada shook his head. "No point now, it's past the point where it needed it. It will heal mostly fine without stitches"

"Mostly?" The woman asked concerned stopping in her tracks. She crossed her arms. "What does that mean?"

The nation stopped as well. "It will just be a bigger scar, nothing major." He could see tears welling in the corner of her eyes.

"You guys really scared us, ya know." She said wiping the tears away. Matthew pulled her into a bear hug. "Don't you dare do that again." She said as he pulled back. "Next time you guys might not be as lucky."

"I don't plan on it." The Canadian said with a soft smile. "There won't be a next time."

Piper started to walk again. "Good because I don't know if Stork's nerves could take that again."

"I don't think anyone's nerves could take that again." The nation said catching up. They continued in silence the rest of the way to the kitchen.

"Finally!" Aerrow said from where he was at the island as soon as they entered the kitchen. Finn was there as well and from his shy smile, Canada guessed they had made up. "Pancakes?"

"Yup, better start cooking, eh?" Matthew said pulling the ingredients out of the cabinets to prepare a huge meal of pancakes.

-❄"I wish you weren't so fucking awkward bud."❄-

Later in the night after everyone had ate and gone to bed, Canada was still up. He had crawled into his spot above the pipes in the hanger again. He hadn't checked his phone yet and decided now was a good time. He had a missed call from Alfred and a couple of texts. The nation was surprised to see America's call. It had been ages since his last one. He immediately dialled back.

"Hello!" Alfred said sounding surprised. "Mattie, where were you?"

"Sorry, was a little bit busy." Canada said with a smile.

"We found the spell that sent you there." America said. "It's a spell that England had used before, but he mispronounced a word or something."

"That's good." Matthew sighed.

"But we still don't know why it sent you there and we're still looking for the reverse spell." Alfred grumbled. "England got a hold of Scotland and Norway. Both of them are looking into it too."

"Have they found anything?" The blond asked.

"Not yet." Alfred sighed. "You'd think after almost two and a half months of reading they'd find something. How long has it been for you there?"

"I think it's getting close to three years? Maybe three and a half?" Matthew said thoughtfully. "We really haven't tried anything with the crystal."

"You still don't want to come back do you bro?" The American asked disappointed.


	33. Chapter Thirty Three

Chapter Thirty Three

"You still don't want to come back do you bro?" The American asked disappointed.

"Not really to be honest." Canada said with a sigh. "I know that I should, I have obligations to fulfill. I don't have much of a choice right now though, even if I did want to go back."

"Right." Alfred grumbled. "Sorry for not calling in so long! I forgot about the time change."

"It's fine Alfie." Matthew said with a small laugh. "Don't worry about it. You were busy."

"Still though. I shouldn't leave you in the dark for so long." Alfred said. "I'll call more often to update you, or you call me if you guys find anything, okay?"

"Of course." The Canadian said quickly agreeing. "I'll talk you later Al."

"See you in a bit, hopefully." America said. "Bye."

Canada hung up and checked the texts. All of them were from Prussia except for one from his phone carrier.

 _'Hey.'_ Gilbert had texted _. 'Matthew?'_ A few hours later. _'You okay?'_

 _'Hey Gil, sorry for not replying, left my phone charging and forgot about it.'_ Matthew texted back.

 _'Oh, okay! The awesome me was a bit worried.'_ Prussia responded right away. _'What's up?'_

 _'Not much.'_ Canada replied. _'Just got heartburn from the forest fires._ '

 _'I heard about those. In British Columbia right? U okay?_ ' The albino asked.

 _'Yeah, BC. I'm fine, nothing I can't handle.'_ Matthew replied. _'They don't have tums here. It kinda sucks.'_

 _'They don't have anything like that there?'_ Gilbert responded quickly.

 _'They might. I haven't asked and I doubt they would have any on board._ ' Canada typed. _'It's not bad anyways.'_

 _'So, how are the kids? )'_ Prussia asked. Matthew rolled his eyes at the text. Prussia always referred to the Storm Hawks as his kids.

 _'Sleeping.'_ The blond replied.

 _'And your not? -_-'_ Gilbert asked.

 _'I'm a night owl, not an early bird.'_ Canada responded. _'And also *you're.'_

 _'Wut evea.'_ Prussia replied quickly. _'Good to know. I won't bug u in the mornings then.'_

 _'Coffee and pancakes are almost the only things that will get me out of bed before I'm ready.'_ The blond texted.

 _'Noted._ ' Gilbert responded.

 _'I should go to sleep if I want to get up at a decent time.'_ Matthew typed. He was feeling a bit sleepy more than before.

 _'Ok. Ttyl, sleep well :)'_ Prussia replied as the blond slipped the phone back into his pocket.

-❄"Me and Thee."❄-

**AN: Ahhhh, it is currently 1 in the morning, I've been binge watching all four seasons of Starsky and Hutch and I work tomorrow.**

"Everyone, to the bridge now!" Stork called over the PA system. Canada looked up from his book. He quickly set it down and started to run for the bridge. It wasn't Stork's normal 'we've got a distress call' tone, it was more frantic than usual. He spotted Junko not too far ahead of him also running. Matthew was able to catch up to him before they got to the bridge.

"Do you know what's going on?" The wallop asked as they entered the bridge. Aerrow and Piper were standing next to Stork at the wheel using the radio. Radarr was sitting on top of the Sky Knight's shoulder. Finn burst into the room out of breath.

"Don't know fully yet, just small details." Piper said. Aerrow was still listening to the radio. "There's an attack on Terra Atmosia. They're calling all squadrons into help."

"Why?" Finn asked finally catching his breath and straightening up.

"Cyclonia is attacking." Stork said. "All of them."

"All of them? You mean the whole army?" Junko clarified. The merk nodded with a concerned face.

"Yes, the whole armada." Aerrow said. "We're setting a course and should be there within the hour."

"Who else has accepted?" Junko asked.

"Rex Guardians, Absolute Zeros, Neck Deeps and quite a few others." Piper said writing something down. "We'll be the third squad there if everyone's time lines are right."

"We'll start preparing now. The skimmers are good, but Junko, move some spare parts there just in case and take some to the engine room as well." Aerrow directed and Junko ran off. Raddar chirped. "True buddy, we might have to take on some people if things get real bad. We'll need to have a supply route ready for the basics. Piper, you can do that?"

"Of course." The amber eyed woman said turning to her maps. "But hopefully it doesn't come to that."

"We should also get rooms ready for them as well." Matthew suggested and the sky knight nodded. "I can do that."

"I'll help you." Finn offered and Raddar chirped as well.

"Okay, we'll alert everyone to meet in the hanger when we're ten minutes out." Piper said as Canada, Finn and Raddar started to leave. The trio managed to set up almost a couple dozen rooms before Piper called out the time warning. Everyone hurried to the hanger and Piper started to brief them. "The Rex Guardian's and Neck Deeps are already here. Absolute Zeros are about five minutes behind us."

"We'll have a bit of help out there, but it's crazy." Aerrow said. "Try to keep the Cyclonians away from the terra and the ships, but most importantly, watch each other's backs. When this is over, I don't want to be missing anyone."

"This is the biggest battle anyone's seen since, well..." Piper trailed off eyes downcast. Canada bit his lip knowing what she was talking about. "It won't happen to us. Just be careful out there."

"Let's get out there." Aerrow said climbing onto his skimmer, Radarr already on his co-pilot seat. The other storm Hawks followed suit before heading down the run way into the busy sky.

 


	34. Chapter Thirty Four

Chapter Thirty Four

**AN: It's Wednesday my dudes.**

Matthew rolled to the left avoiding another bolt from a Cyclonian. There were so many people in the sky. More than he had seen before, even during the world wars.

The sky was a mess of skimmers and ships. The Sky Knight squadrons stayed separate from each other defending the Terra while the people were evacuated. The Cyclonians swarmed around the carriers aiming for their engines. The squadrons had managed to down a Cyclonian ship, but another soon replaced it. As more squads showed up the sky became messier. The talons were driving the squads apart and taking them down one by one.

Canada was paying close attention to the movement of the other Storm Hawks. They had managed to keep fairly close together this far despite the talons trying to break them apart. Junko and Finn had split off a little while ago to man the guns and help Stork on the Condor. Dark Ace and Snipe were yet to make an appearance.

The Canadian looked around for his next target. He spotted a talon pitching in Piper's direction and went after him. He fired twice at the Cyclonian and hit him dead on. The man's skimmer fell apart and his shoot opened. The talons that were on the battle field didn't seem too experienced and were easily downed.

"One behind." Aerrow said over the coms. Canada looked over his shoulder and knew he was talking to him. The female talon frowned because her surprise attack was compromised. She started to shoot at him anyways. Matthew bit his lip and rolled out of the way of the blasts. She managed to follow his every move and kept on his tail, just barely. He faked going left and sharply pulled right. She fell for his trick and the nation levelled off behind her. He fired at her wings and one flew off and her skimmer dipped. Canada could hear her scream with annoyance as she bailed off her skimmer.

"Someone spotted Snipe." Stork announced. The merk had all the ships frequencies going to his radio. "He's near the south side."

"Anything on Ace?" Piper asked as she shot down another Cyclonian.

"Not yet." Stork replied. "More information is just coming in. Most of the people on the terra have been evacuated to nearby terras."

"Good." Aerrow said with a sigh. "Keep the talons away from each other and the Condor."

"There's a squad heading our way." Finn interjected. Canada could hear his crossbow firing through the coms. The Condor wasn't too far off and Matthew could see the squad of at least eight talons flying towards it. Aerrow and Piper broke away from the Cyclonians they were chasing and flew for the Condor. Canada did the same and joined the pair.

As the trio got closer the now six Cyclonians split up into three groups of two. Finn and Junko had managed to down two before they got there and damage one other. The trio split each following a pair. Canada shot at one of the talons as he followed her into a dive around the engines. She pulled into a loop around the engine trying to shake Matthew. The nation kept on her tail, but lost sight of her partner.

Canada followed the woman until she levelled out again and started to fire at her. She pitched and rolled avoiding the bolts of energy. The talon wasn't giving up as easy as the others. The blond quickly scanned the sky looking for her partner. He spotted the other Cyclonian close to the right engine. He broke away from his pursuit of the other talon in favour of her partner.

The talon hadn't noticed that Canada had snuck up on him until it was too late. The nation started to fire and hit his skimmers engine. The Cyclonians skimmer sputtered and started to loose altitude. Matthew turned to search the sky for the man's partner. He spotted her not too far off following close behind Piper.

Matthew quickly pulled into position behind the Cyclonian and waited for Piper to not be in his line of fire. Aerrow had finished off his two and joined Canada in getting the last one. Piper dipped and dived giving the pair a chance. The pair saw the opportunity and easily downed the woman.

"Dark Ace has been spotted heading our way. He's got three squads of eight with him." Stork announced. "The other Sky Knights are calling to take a stand here and beat the armada."

"Better chances now than we'll probably have in years." Junko said firing at the few Cyclonians that dared to get close. "They're in our skies."

"We had almost no time to prep and are low on supplies." Piper pointed out. "If this battle drags out were bound to lose."

"Let's not have this drag out then." Aerrow said spotting Dark Ace in the sky and flying to meet him. Piper and Matthew followed closely behind the Sky Knight. The red head hopped up onto his wings allowing Radarr to take the pilot seat. Dark Ace did the same and was ready to square off. The pair of enemy's were evenly matched, easily countering and blocking each other. The nation kept a close eye on them, ready to throw a knife a moment's notice.

Canada and Piper lead the other talons away from the two leaders and past Junko and Finn on the guns. The pair managed to pick quite a few off in one pass.

The Storm Hawks had managed to push the talon squads away from the Condor. Junko and Finn joined the others in the sky to fight off the remaining talons. As soon as the last few were downed, more showed up. More of the Cyclonians emerged as one of their carrier ships were taken down by another sky knight squad. Canada's skimmer had taken a few hits, but was still controlling well enough for him.

Suddenly, the nation felt a thump on his wing and his skimmer dipped to the new weight. Canada groaned rolling his eyes and was about to dip his wing further until he saw who it was.


	35. Chapter Thirty Five

Chapter Thirty Five

**AN: I was just pulling into Walmart and sitting at the light waiting to turn left was the Torino! I almost died. I waved at the man driving it and he waved back, but looked confused on why a teenage girl was waving excitedly at him. I also bet you guys thought it was going to be Alfred or someone. It originally was in my plan, but that would make it so much longer that it already was sooooo…**

"Arygyn?" Matthew asked seeing the odd bird man on his wing. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello Matthew!" Arygyn said crouching on his wingtip, waving with a smile. "I figured out why you seemed out of place! You're not supposed to be here!"

"I don't think this is the best time to discuss this." Matthew said spotting a stray bolt coming their way. He dipped his wing ever so slightly, just enough to move out of the way. He was great full for the other Storm Hawks keeping the Cyclonians away from him.

"That's probably true, but it's important." Arygyn said hopping closer to the skimmers centre of gravity. "That crystal only works on a certain day of the year in your world."

"Okay, and?" Matthew asked calmly picking up a little bit of speed and gaining altitude. If Arygyn wanted to have a conversation right at that moment Canada wanted to be as far away from the talons as possible.

"That day is today for your dimension." The bird man said waving his staff to exaggerate his words. "We need to get you back now or you'll be stuck here for over thirty years!"

"What?" Canada stammered confused. He had completely forgotten about the battle beneath them.

"You'd have to wait a full year in your world before the crystal will be useful again. That's about thirty years here." Arygyn explained slowly. "You have to make a choice soon."

"How much time do I have?" Matthew asked.

"About two hours earth time, two days here." Arygyn said with a shrug.

"I'm not leaving if this battles still going on. I want to know they're safe." Canada said.

Arygyn nodded. "It's your decision. I'll pop in around an hour or two before the deadline." He said teleporting away.

Canada cleared his mind if the previous conversation and focused on the battle below him. He hadn't realized how high he had taken his skimmer. He dived back down into the centre of the battle heading straight for a talon that was trying to sneak up on Finn. Matthew pulled into a good position behind him and started to fire at the talon.

The Cyclonian diverted away from Finn and dived down towards the cloud line. He didn't make it before the Canadian had hit the skimmers engines and they started to sputter. Matthew pulled out of the dive and headed back up into the sky.

"What did Arygyn want?" Piper asked spotting the blond back in the battle.

"He had some info on the crystal. I'll tell you guys later if we get a chance." The nation said focusing on a new target. He still kept an eye on Aerrow and the Dark Ace. The pair had been fighting for some time now; both looked like they were tiring out. Matthew kept a throwing knife ready at all times.

"Okay." Piper said flipping away from a talon. Canada turned his attention back to a Cyclonian that was getting a little too close for his comfort. He turned to meet the man head on in the sky. He was playing chicken with the talon. Matthew flew directly at him waiting for the Cyclonian to break first. He did split, as soon as he realized the nation's intentions.

The Canadian followed him closely and started to shoot. One of his comrades started to follow Canada. Matthew managed to shoot one of the Cyclonians engines before leaving his target. The female talon behind him followed shooting, but was just barely missing the Canadian. Matthew rolled and turned out of the way of the blasts.

The woman kept hot on his tail, but still hadn't managed to hit Canada yet. He looked around trying to spot another target to go after and hopefully loose the talon. He gasped seeing a stray bolt heading his way. Matthew quickly pushed his controls down and dived out of the way. He watched the bolt hit the woman's engine and she bailed off.

"Your welcome!" Finn called over the coms. He waved at him from his skimmer.

"Thanks?" Canada said confused.

"No problem." The blond said oblivious to the fact that he could have hurt Matthew. He just shrugged and continued on with the fight. By now, they had taken out all of the squads that Ace had brought with him. The other Sky Knight squads had taken out the last few talons hanging around the Terra. The Cyclonian ships had taken heavy damage and a few were slowly falling out of the sky.

"There are two more carriers heading our way. This isn't over yet." Stork said. "A few Sky Knights and their squads are withdrawing for now. Too much damage to their equipment."

"Any estimates on how many more talons?" Piper asked. They were mostly circling around now, watching Aerrow and the Dark Ace fight. They knew better than to get in between the pair.

"Two, maybe three hundred." Stork replied. "How are we on the skimmers? Any damage? The Condor is doing well."

"I'm running low on power and my controls are sticking." Piper said. "I'm going to pop in and grab some crystals."

"I should as well." Canada said noticing his power levels. They had been out for almost three hours. The sun was starting to set. He didn't really want to leave the field in the middle of the battle, but he needed more crystals.

"We'll hold it down out here." Junko said reassuringly. Matthew nodded and turned to the Condor. Piper wasn't too far behind him and they landed together on the runway. Both quickly restocked on the crystals they needed, grabbing a few extra just in case the others needed them.

They were back out within minutes. There was no time to do repairs before the new wave of Cyclonians would arrive. Aerrow was back on his skimmer and both he and Ace were circling each other trying to get a shot. Matthew flew close to the red head and tossed him and Radarr a couple of power crystals.

The Dark Ace watched him with an annoyed sneer. The commander looked like he was about to go after the Canadian, but Aerrow caught his attention again. Canada spotted the new carriers coming in and the new squads coming down the runway.

 


	36. Chapter Thirty Six

Chapter Thirty Six

Matthew watched Aerrow and Ace close as the pair fought. He could see that the Sky Knight was worn down and was just able to counter the Cyclonians attacks. The Storm Hawks and other squads were still dealing with the new carriers that had shown up. These talons were more resilient than the others. The Sky Knight squadrons still stayed separate from each other.

They had been at this for almost four hours now; the sun was just starting to set. Aerrow and Ace had separated at the moment, but were now dogfighting. Neither one had managed to land a hit on either of their skimmers.

"Getting tired of this." Finn grumbled through the coms. There was a short lull in the battle.

"There's not many left." Aerrow said dodging another bolt from the Dark Ace. A few talons had dared to get close to the two leaders, but were easily taken down by the Storm Hawks.

"It's getting dark, what if night crawlers show up?" Junko asked. As night approached, the threat of night crawlers grew. Matthew didn't have much experience with the creatures, but they were a lot harder to down than the normal talons.

"Didn't they betray Cyclonis?" Piper asked coming up next to Matthew and levelling her helieskooter off. Canada shrugged. Junko and Finn were flying close as well, but Aerrow was still circling with Ace. They seemed to be having a staring contest.

"The other squads will be making a final push against the Cyclonians very soon." Stork announced. "If the talons don't pull back and retreat, the Sky Knights are. They don't want to lose any more people."

"We've been lucky so far." Canada said with a sigh. They hadn't lost a skimmer yet or had any serious injuries. Good thing too since they didn't have many supplies left.

"I'm going to push back against Dark Ace. See if I can scare him off." Aerrow said suddenly hopping up on the wings of his skimmer allowing Radarr to take the controls. Radarr guided the skimmer closer to Dark Ace and Aerrow jumped over daggers drawn.

Dark Ace hadn't been expecting the move and quickly got to his feet. He managed to block Aerrow's attack, but just barely. Upon seeing their leader being attacked again, more talons were heading their way. The Storm Hawks flew to meet them, separating the Dark Ace from his men.

Matthew didn't pick a particular talon to go after this time. He shot at anyone who came anywhere close to him or any of his team mates. He had managed to land quite a few shots on different talons before another Storm Hawk would take them out.

Night was coming fast. Almost as fast as the talons were falling out of the sky. The Sky Knight squadrons were fighting closer together now.

The Dark Ace could see his chances were dwindling and he was becoming desperate. He fought with a new burst of energy tripping Aerrow. The sky knight rolled out of the way of a stab from the talon leader.

Canada had caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. He broke away from the pack of waring skimmers and flew a little closer to Ace and Aerrow. Matthew pulled a knife from his pocket watching the talon stab his wing again as Aerrow just rolled out of the way. The Sky Knight still hadn't managed to gain his feet. The nation quickly threw his knife seeing Ace preparing for another attack. He had aimed for the hip, but because of the distance the knife ended up catching Dark Ace in the back of his knee.

The talon yelled and lost his footing. Aerrow finally rolled up onto his feet and pinned Ace to his wing. The dark haired man struggled and tried to push the smaller Sky Knight off him, but didn't have the strength to.

A few talons spotted their leader being pinned and swirled around them. The Storm Hawks and a few other allies took them out quickly. Aerrow had managed to cuff Ace with his own shackles and hauled him to his feet. Sky Knights and their squadrons circled around them and cheered. Ace kept his head down and was trying to keep weight off his one leg.

The remaining talons started to retreat back to their ships. Matthew could see Snipe snarling and yelling in anger in the distance, but he didn't bother making an attempt to help his comrade.

-❄"Write like you're running out of time."❄-

A few hours later after the sky was totally cleared and night had fallen, the Storm Hawks were still up. They had just given Dark Ace over to the Sky Knight council to make their ruling on his punishment.

"What did Arygyn have to say about the crystal?" Piper asked as they were finishing up the last few repairs on their skimmers.

"Oh I almost forgot." Matthew said scratching the back of his neck. "He said that the crystal could only be used on a certain day in my world. That day is today there."

"You could go back then?" Finn asked popping up from under his skimmer.

"Yeah." Canada nodded wiping his hands off and standing up.

"Are you going to?" Aerrow asked raising an eyebrow.

"I better." The nation said with a frown. "I don't really want to, but I have responsibilities I have to take care of that couldn't wait another whole year."

"That would be what here? Twenty nine, thirty years?" Piper said.

"About that long, yeah." Canada said biting his lip.

"Would you be able to come back?" Junko spoke up.

"I'm not sure." Matthew shrugged. "I didn't get a chance to ask. Arygyn said that he would pop around tomorrow."

"Would you want to come back? If your world is at peace, why come back?" Junko asked finishing up the last little bits of repairs he had.

"As far as I know it's still peaceful. Tensions are pretty high though." The nation said with a small smile. "I'd want to come back to visit you guys. Make sure you're still okay."

"Things should hopefully be getting better now that Ace has been caught." Aerrow said wiping his hands off and hopping up onto the crates Canada was sitting on. "We'd be glad to have you back. We're going to miss you."


	37. Chapter Thirty Seven

Chapter Thirty Seven

Later in the night once everyone had turned in, Matthew was still awake. He wasn't really tired yet despite today's battle. He crawled out of his bed and grabbed his phone off his desk. It lit up in the night and almost blinded him. Canada looked at the battery and saw that it was still almost fully charged.

The nation slipped out of his room and headed to his spot by the windows. Once he got there, Matthew slid down the wall and pulled his legs up to his chest before rapping his arms around them. He sighed resting his chin on his knees.

Canada looked out the window and watched the terras go by. He had never really got used to the idea of 'floating' islands. He was also still getting used to the idea of going home as well. He was ready to be back on his land again, but wasn't ready to leave the Storm Hawks. Even know they were old enough to enrol in the military now, Matthew still saw them as younger siblings that needed to be protected. He felt guilty for leaving them here, but knew that they most likely couldn't go with him. Even if they did, Canada wouldn't be around often enough.

Matthew felt a sudden wave of tiredness come over him. He yawned and turned his head laying it on his knees. The nation tried to clear his mind and sleep.

-❄"Sure. Still seeing whatshername. Took her to whatchamacallit. Gave her my thingamajig."❄-

In the morning, Canada yawned and stretched before getting up and going to the kitchen. Piper and Junko were already up and cooking. Piper was baking some sort of cake and Matthew had no clue what Junko was cooking, but it didn't smell good.

"Morning Mattie! Want to try some of my spiderberry and octoflower salad?" Junko asked as soon as Canada popped in. Piper just shook her head out of the wallop's line of sight giving him a warning.

"No thanks Junko, I'm going to just have a galapple." Matthew said with a polite smile and taking one of the oddly coloured apples off the counter.

"Your loss." Junko teased digging in. The door open and Stork walked in. He took one look at what Junko was eating and walked right back out. Matthew smiled and laughed quietly at that. "I don't know why you guys avoid my food. It's amazing!"

Finn and Aerrow came into the kitchen half way through Junko's sentence. "Well buddy, that's because your tastes are a little more..." Finn trailed off trying to think of the right word. "Exotic." He settled on.

"Still, you're missing out. More for me though!" The wallop said finishing off his 'salad.'

"Do you know when Argyn is coming?" Aerrow asked hopping up onto the counter next to where Matthew was leaning. Radarr scurried in and hopped up onto the counter as well.

"No, he just said he would pop around." The blond said with a shrug. "I'm assuming sometime around supper."

"Still got some time then. You're sure about your decision?" Aerrow asked keeping his eyes on the floor.

"No, not really." Matthew sighed running a hand through his hair. "I don't really want to leave. Now especially when you could finish this war, but I do need to go back. I can't just leave my responsibilities as a nation for a full year. It wouldn't be fair to my people."

"I understand." Aerrow said. "It's going to be weird without you. No one to tell me to eat healthy."

"Well actually, I am planning to leave my phone with you guys." Matthew said with a small smile. "That way we could still talk even if I'm not here."

"But you don't have another?" Piper pointed out pulling her cake from the oven.

"It's not that hard to get another." The nation shrugged. "I can just reset this one back to its original factories setting and transfer stuff to the new one easily. It will be easier for you guys to use that way too."

Canada quickly went through his phone, emailing all the important things to himself. He had smartly backed up most of his stuff to his computer back at home; it was mostly just the new photos of the Atmos he hadn't transferred.

The rest of the afternoon was spent teaching the Storm Hawks how to use the phone and teaching them the little bit of English they would need to know. Piper had him right down an answer key for the different words and English to Atmos lettering chart. With a little practice they picked it up fairly quickly, expected for a teenager.

"How long will the battery last?" Finn asked.

"Quite a while, but I have a solar charger with me. Just plug it and leave it in the sun and it will charge. Unless you lose the charger." Matthew said remembering to give them the cables.

"What if we break it?" Piper asked passing the phone carefully back to Canada.

"Well, if the screen just cracks you shouldn't have much of a problem, it happens all the time. If you drop it in water or damage the circuits inside its pretty much game over." The nation shrugged. "Just be careful with it."

"We will." Aerrow said with a sigh and Radarr chirped in agreement. "You'll call us as soon as possible?"

"Of course. It might be a while for you guys. I'll have to get things figured out at home; bills are probably past due by now." Canada said remembering about his bills. He hoped Kuma had taken care of them.

"Bills? That's sucks." Finn groaned leaning back in his chair.

"You'll send us photos of your world, right?" Piper said excitedly. Matthew nodded. "It will be so cool to see the differences."

"It's going to be weird to not be flying all the time. I'm going to have to readjust to normal driving." Canada said with a small smile. "It's also going to be odd not have to do supply runs and battles often."

"Hopefully we won't have to do those much longer." Finn said crossing his arms with a smirk. "With Ace down the rest of the Cyclonians will be a piece of cake."

"Missing a single commander won't make the whole army crumble right away." Aerrow said. Radarr nodded in agreement from his shoulder. "It will still take time for the Atmos to finally be at peace."


	38. Chapter Thirty Eight

Chapter Thirty Eight

"Matthew?" Argyn suddenly popped out of thin air, scaring the Storm Hawks. He perched on the centre of the table the Storm Hawks were seated around. "Have you made a decision yet?"

Canada took a breath still recovering from the scare. "Yes, I need to go back." He said slowly. "Would I be able to come back if I go?"

"Oh yes, the crystal is able to work as many times as you want! It can only move a few people at a time. The other problem is that to jump from here to there, it has to be a certain day in your world." Argyn said sitting cross-legged. "You can jump from there to here any day."

"You'd really need to keep track of times." Finn said with a small smirk. "Don't want to pop up in the middle of the night."

"If you end up here really early you should totally make some pancakes." Aerrow smiled kicking his feet up on the table. Canada cracked a smile.

"How does the crystal work?" Piper asked curiously watching Argyn closely.

"It's simple magic. The main user just imagines the place they want to be and it will transport them to that exact spot." The bird man explained.

"So what if you imagine some place that doesn't exist?" Stork asked speaking up for the first time.

"Every place you can imagine exists in one world or another. It would just take you there. Some worlds, like this Matthew's, can only be accessed on a certain day though." Argyn said with a shrug. "Now, where is this crystal? We're cutting it fairly close."

"I'll grab it." Piper said sadly rising from the table.

"You have all your stuff ready?" Argyn asked and Canada nodded motioning to the backpack that was slung over the chair next to him. "Good."

"Could you use it to teleport?" Junko suddenly burst out.

"No… Well maybe? I don't know." The bird man said raising an eyebrow. He stood up and hopped off the table as Piper came back into the room. "How long have you had this crystal?"

"Twoish years? Maybe more." The woman guessed handing the crystal over to Argyn. "It's been a while. Does it matter?"

"Not at all, just wondering." Argyn said handing the crystal over to Matthew. "Time to say goodbyes now, you need to get back very soon."

Junko immediately hug tackled Canada. "I'm going to miss you so much!" The other Storm Hawks joined in a big group hug. Even Stork joined them. "We're all going to miss you so much. You're family."

"I will miss you guys too." Matthew said furrowing his eyebrows with a frown. "We'll keep in contact. I'll be back." He said reassuringly. He knew for the Storm Hawks that it would be years before they'd see each other again. For Canada it would be less than a year.

"It's only goodbye for now, but not goodbye forever." Aerrow said as everyone pulled away. "We'll keep your room and skimmer the way you left them."

"If you need them, use them." Matthew said with a shrug.

"Shouldn't you tell your brother that you're coming back?" Stork asked crossing his arms.

"Nah, I'll do that later." Canada said biting his lip. "Maybe I'll just see if he notices."

"He'll be happy to see you." Argyn said. Matthew smirked at that rolling his eyes slightly.

"I'll call you guys as soon as I can." Matthew said as Argyn handed him the crystal.

"Cup your hands around the crystal." The bird man instructed. "Close your eyes and imagine where you want to go and when you open your eyes, you'll be there."

"Bye Mattie." The Storm Hawks said in almost unison as he closed his eyes. He smiled slightly imagining the log he had fallen asleep on so long ago. He sighed opening his eyes and taking in the sights and sounds of the familiar forest.

-❄"Stray."❄-

It took Canada a little while to settle back into normal life. He had to adjust to being on solid ground again and the technology. He was very happy to have maple syrup back. Kumajiro was happy to have the nation back as well, he didn't have to get and make his own food anymore. He had kept up the house and managed to get most of the bills payed on time.

Matthew was able to get to the store and get a new cell phone very quickly. He was sure happy to hear the Storm Hawks voices again. Knowing that they were still okay took a lot off his mind. It had been almost a week for them and the Cyclonians were still recovering from the loss of Dark Ace. Aerrow and the other Sky Knights kept pushing back against them taking the Atmos back terra by terra.

The Storm Hawks were excited to see photos of Matthew's world and land. All the technology was so fascinating to them. As he caught up on work around his country, he was able to snap some good photos for them. He enjoyed explaining the different sights and tech. He made plans to leave his world two or three months in advance to visit the Atmos a few years before the due day. He kept the crystal in a safe spot and made sure no one else knew where it was.

Life slowly got back to normal after Alfred had visited. His brother hug tackled him to the ground and wouldn't let him go for an almost ten minutes. Once the American finally let Matthew up they talked over coffee. England had figured out the spell he misspoke and would have been able to reverse it if they needed. They still didn't know why it had targeted Canada in the first place, but he was glad it did.

**AN: Done! This fic was so long and I still had more I wanted to include. Maybe I'll do some one shots or something in the future. Over all, what did you think? Originally, I was going to have Alfred or Gil ending up there with him, but it would have probably been so much longer. I might do something with Shining Waves and this later. Like the Storm Hawks end up there somehow or Mattie and Gil fade and end up there, but idk. Have to see what happens, what you guys want and what I want to write!**

Finished October 18th 2017.

Finished Editing October 26th 2017.


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